Crosswired
by Phoenix-cry
Summary: Daniel finds himself in the hands of an organization that wants something from him that they know he doesn’t remember. Will the forced memory experiment unlock secrets or just drive him insane? Full Novel, recently nominated for the Stargate Fan Awards.
1. Chapter 1

Stargate SG-1: Crosswired

Chapter One

Blood slowly seeped from Daniel's temple and into his eyes as he laid on his side on the floor. He didn't bother to brush it away, it would just happen again. The small circular wound wouldn't heal, his captors wouldn't let it.

Instead of waiting for the trickle of blood to blind him Daniel simply closed his eyes. There was nothing to see anyway, just a small featureless room with a locked door. With no clear idea of the difference between day and night he drifted in and out of sleep.

His dreams brought back the violent and chaotic memories of the kidnapping, made hazy by his confusion at the time. Whoever it had been knew his routine, knew the perfect place to run him off the road on his drive home. It had been a Friday, so he wouldn't have been missed for a few days.

Daniel jerked awake as he heard footsteps out in the hall. The mere approach of someone caused his heart to pound painfully against his ribs. He sat up and backed into the corner as two strong men entered the room.

They looked like they'd fit in perfectly at the SGC, just like any of the random soldiers that prowled the Base's halls. Daniel couldn't be sure, for they worn only white, but their ever motion spoke of time in Military service. They had a mission and carried it out with maximum efficiency. One of them approached Daniel and hauled him to his feet. He was starting to lose his ability and his will to struggle against them.

The man that had stood him up tangled his hand into Daniel's hair and pulled his head back. The other brought a cold metal cup to his lips and tilted it. Daniel grit his teeth together, but he already knew that he was in a no win situation.

He had the options of swallowing the thick liquid or drowning in it.

Instinct, reflex, and the animal will to survive made Daniel swallow. They had been force feeding him the protein drink ever since he'd refused to eat anything offered on his own. It was keeping him alive, but he was still losing weight fast. His captor released him and Daniel sat down again. He rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth to clean away the sticky drink.

Vanilla was quickly becoming his least favourite flavour.

The two men looked down at Daniel expectantly. They knew that he knew the routine. Daniel sighed. Too tired to fight useless against them he voluntarily held his hands behind his back. One of the men secured them there with a buckled leather strap that had been lined in fleece to keep it from cutting into his wrists.

The two men left without saying word...as always.

A few minutes later his next visitor arrived. She looked just at home here as the two men. Her light blue eyes held the cold clinical look of a scientist. Her actions however betrayed her as a medical doctor. She had a small box of supplies with her that she placed on the floor.

"Hi." Daniel greeted casually. "My name is Daniel. Daniel Jackson...Dr. Jackson actually. I'm an archeologist. I'd give you my rank and serial number, but I don't have either."

The woman said nothing. She fearlessly knelt down in front of him. Reaching out she pressed two delicate fingers against his throat and then looked down at her watch to count out his pulse.

"Of course you already know that because I've told you everyday for what I believe is the past week." Daniel continued the one sided conversation. "Although it's getting harder to keep track of time. And of course you've drugged me unconscious a few times so I guess any amount of time could have passed."

The doctor paid no heed to Daniel's comments. She turned his head to the side to get a look at the still bleeding wound at his temple, level with his eye. Turning her attention to her supply box she opened a rubbing alcohol pad and started to clean off the blood. The injury itself was not large, but the area around it was scarlet with infection.

"I wonder if my friends are still looking for me." Daniel mused out loud as she worked. "I'm willing to bet that they are. Jack has a tendency to not give up on me easily. He'll be a force to be reckoned with if he finds me here. I hope for your sake that someone around here is well armed."

Having removed all the blood the doctor reached into her pocket and brought out what looked like a small jewelry box. She opened the box and revealed the silver and purple disk that it held. Daniel looked at the Gou'ald memory device wearily.

His life had been difficult enough to live through the first time.

Daniel winced away from the doctor as she brought the disk up. For the first time he saw a flash of pity cross her marble features. However it didn't stop her. She lined the device up with the preexisting wound carefully. Daniel gasped in pain as she pressed it into his temple.

"In case you're curious: yes, it's painful." Daniel growled. "It's worse than before...you...you're not modifying this thing are you? I recall them being gold...not silver."

The doctor still said nothing, she just made sure that the device was properly in place.

"I take you've got the View Screen for this thing in the next room in case I happen to remember what you're looking for. I also assume that you know that you could never get the knowledge of the Ancients from me using something as mundane as a Gou'ald memory device...even a modified one."

Daniel chuckled hollowly as he continued to get no response.

"Trust me, if it was that simple I would have done it myself long ago."

Daniel sighed as his attempt at lightheartedness clearly fell on deaf ears.

"Please talk to me. Being treated like a lab rat is getting more frustrating than the unlawful captivity."

Silence fell over the pair.

"Do you need another language?" Daniel asked honestly. "I know plenty of them."

To Daniel's surprise the doctor actually smiled. She looked like she was taking a breath to say something. However she thought better of it. Daniel closed his eyes as she got to her feet to leave. He tried to keep his breathing from getting shallow, and tried to keep his heart from racing. It was going to be another long day.

"At least tell me what you want from me." Daniel said in a desperate tone. "Please...give me a chance to answer."

The doctor stopped in the doorway. She looked both directions down the hallway before turning back around to face Daniel with a look of genuine sympathy. She sighed and for the first time she spoke to him.

"If it was as simple as just asking...I would."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

General O'Neill sat at his desk trying to comb through the mountain of paper work that had somehow accumulated over the weekend. It wasn't bad enough that seemingly every problem in the galaxy ended up on his desk, but also a countless number of budgets, supply requests, mission reports, status reports, and random inner base workings paperwork as well. 

A delicate knock at Jack's open door caught his attention. Carter was standing in the doorway with her arms folded over her chest. She had one of those expectant 'aren't you forgetting something' looks on her face.

"Oh right, the briefing on PX7-whatever." Jack suddenly remembered.

"PX72-598." Sam supplied. 

"I'll be right there."

"No rush, Daniel's late too."

"Really? Good."

"Good?"

"Makes me feel like less of a yutz."

Sam chuckled and wandered back into the briefing room where Teal'c waited patiently. Jack signed a document that he had half read and pushed it to the side of desk, hoping that it wouldn't come back and bite him in the ass later. 

Although not really looking forward to a report on the team's latest trip, it couldn't possibly be any duller than what he was doing. Jack joined Sam and Teal'c in the briefing room. Sitting down he pulled the thick report folder towards himself. He picked it up and without opening it he weighed it in his hand.

"Daniel wrote this, didn't he?" Jack asked rhetorically. "There must be a hundred pages here."

"One hundred and thirty-six." Teal'c corrected.

Jack glared at Teal'c briefly, but then realized that he had walked into that comment. He looked up at the clock and noticed that the morning was slipping away from him faster than he'd thought.

"Let's just get started." Jack suggested.

"Well, this planet is kind of Daniel's project." Sam pointed out.

"Right, of course it is." 

Jack got up and went over to the phone on the wall. He dialed the extension down to Daniel's office. When it was clear that no one was going to answer he hung up. He walked over to the door out to the main hall. The guard outside the door turned his attention to him.

"Airman, go find Dr. Jackson...tell him he's late. Very unprofessional."

"Yes, Sir."

Jack sat back down and looked at Sam and Teal'c. Sam flashed a quick tight lipped smile, while Teal'c remained as calm and stoic as ever. It quickly became obvious that neither one of them had anything to say. 

"So...how was the weather on PX7-whatever?" Jack asked lightheartedly.

"Very agreeable." Teal'c replied seriously.

"Good to hear."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Before anyone could think of anything else to say a quiet knock at the door interrupted the silence. The man that Jack had sent off to find Daniel opened the door, but did not step into the room.

"Sir?" The Airman asked.

"Yes?"

"Dr. Jackson did not check into the base this morning."

"When was he due?"

"Forty-five minutes ago."

"Thank you, dismissed."

Jack furrowed his brow in thought, trying to keep the icy feeling from creeping across his skin. He'd only known Daniel to not check in one other time, and that was because he was busy deciding whether or not to step off his fourth story balcony. 

"It's not like Daniel to not check in." Sam mimicked Jack's thoughts.

"No...it isn't." Jack agreed.

Getting back up Jack went over to phone once more and dialed. The only voice that answered was Daniel's answering machine. Jack didn't have any other numbers to try. Daniel didn't have a cell phone, he didn't like them. Jack suddenly realized that he was leaving a long blank message on Daniel's machine and hung up.

"Does anyone else have a bad feeling about this?" Jack sighed. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Cha'hari! Cha'hari! Lower your guns." Daniel called out to the men around him. 

Daniel rushed up to the small group of people who had just stepped through the Stargate on Abydos. He recognized Jack and the two other men, but there was a blonde woman with them that he didn't know. She looked around with intelligent blue eyes and kept her weapon ready.

"Hello, Jack, welcome back." Daniel greeted cheerfully. "I knew sooner or later you'd tell someone we were still here."

Daniel shook his head violently to help rid himself of the induced memory. Sitting cross legged on the floor he straightened his back and stared intently at a blank spot on the wall. If they were trying to get his life's story, they were going to have to pry it away from him. He started to pant with the effort it was taking to resist the alien technology that was searing into his temple. 

"Most often dreams are merely the mind's way of dealing with desires that cannot be fulfilled." Teal'c noted calmly as another flashback took control of Daniel's senses.

"Oh." Daniel replied disheartened. "So...basically, I'm destined to never going to get a good night's sleep ever again."

"Knowing your past experiences, Daniel Jackson, I do not know how you have slept well before now." 

"Thank you, Teal'c." Daniel sighed. "This conversation has been disturbing on many levels."

Daniel grit his teeth in frustration and fought harder against the random flashbacks. They were becoming more realistic. The first few days of these experiments he simply had the memories racing in his mind, but now it was becoming more and more like he was actually there. It was as if his life was turning into a Mobius Strip: no beginning...no end.

In a desperate attempt to regain control he closed his eyes and put all of his concentration into breathing. He drew the cool air of the small room deep into his lungs and held it so he could feel his heartbeat. For a moment he actually found peace. 

However, not about to be ignored the memory disk bit him with a quick snap of electrical current. Daniel was thrown into a hallucination so violently that he tasted blood. A sudden oppressive heat and humidity pressed down on him. Sweat rolled down his dirty skin, making his delirious thirst even worse. Daniel fought briefly against a pair of plastic zip ties that were cutting into his wrist. He looked up at his captor, a man of Latin decent who was calmly eating a pineapple.

"An artifact?" The man asked skeptically.

"Yeah. I'm an archaeologist, that's what I do, I look for…artifacts." Daniel said with a nervous laugh. "And I, uh, I found one. ...Seriously, I'm an archaeologist. You guys can look me up on the internet if you want. Do you have a computer?"

Daniel snapped back into reality. He looked around the white room frantically trying to get his bearings. His heart was pounding so hard that he could feel it throbbing in his eardrums. Despite the cool air temperature sweat dripped from his hair. 

Fear had pulled Daniel out of his latest memory trip. It had taken months of mental and physical therapy to recover from the hours of electrocution torture he'd endured right after that conversation. To this day he still found himself sensitive to even the slightest of static shocks.

Electrical burns were one of those pains that one never forgets. Even now his stomach knotted at the thought that the memory device might short circuit again, making it impossible to keep from slipping under its spell again.

"You ever really study one of these?" Daniel asked vacantly.

"A pen?" Sam asked as she sat down on his hospital bed. 

"I spent half my life studying the written word. Including how various cultures recorded things through the ages. From hammers and chisels, to quills and ink. But I never stopped once to recognize the ingenuity of this simple little piece of technology that we use. After the first team left me on Abydos, Sha're saw me writing in my journal and thought the ballpoint I was using was magic."

Sam smiled sadly, not knowing what to say. Daniel continued to turn the pen over in his hands.

"A little device like this pen was such a wonder to her." Daniel whispered as he tried to fight the sting of tears. "The simplest things were a wonder to her."

"Daniel, it's healthy to hold onto those memories." Sam noted.

"I couldn't save her." Daniel replied as if he hadn't heard. "All those wonders we have at our disposal and I couldn't save her..."

Tearing himself away from Sha're's death Daniel cried out in frustrated rage. He tried to get to his feet, but having his wrists pinned back threw him off balance and brought him down to his knees. The flashback had slashed open a wound that had never fully healed. The grief was suddenly as sharp as the day that it had happened. He gasped for breath against shuddering tears.

"Please...please stop." Daniel whimpered. "Don't do this to me..."

If Daniel's plea fell on any ears at all they were deaf ones. A sharp pain at his temple cruelly informed him of that. He struggled against the leather strap with all that was left of his strength. Unable to free his wrists he tried to break the device by throwing himself recklessly into the wall. 

There was a snapping sounded followed by a sickening wave of nausea. Daniel's muscles began to fail him and he slipped to the floor. As his vision darkened the pain at his temple was replaced with an odd tingling. Unable to stand again Daniel closed his eyes in exhaustion.

Seconds or possibly days later he woke to find his setting had changed once again. He sat up slowly and looked around the ornate tent. The floor he'd been living on had been replaced by a bed made of animal skins. 

At first he knew it wasn't real. However when he looked over and found Sha're sleeping peacefully beside him, he didn't care if it was real. Daniel reached over and brushed an errant lock of her curly ebony hair away from her face. 

Unable to resist he leaned in and kissed her. Sha're woke with a surprised giggle and returned the affection. Daniel pulled away and just stared at her. By the time she opened her eyes Daniel was completely lost in the past.

"Good morning, husband." 

"It's a wonderful morning." 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Sam walked through Daniel's living room as if the floor was made of eggshells. It felt strange to be there uninvited, particularly under the circumstances. She stepped up to the large saltwater aquarium that dominated the corner of the room. The brightly coloured fish surged to the surface, shoving each other out of the way frantically.

"No one's fed you this weekend, have they?" Sam asked the fish quietly.

The fish started pushing themselves against the glass, looking for all the world like they were trying to attack her. Sam looked under the aquarium cabinet and found some fish food. She sprinkled some in the water and the ravenous fish snapped up the foul smelling flakes greedily. 

"Carter?" Jack asked.

"I'm just feeding Daniel's fish, Sir."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate it." Jack chuckled. "From what little I've listened to about them I gather that they are expensive."

Sam forced a smile and put the fish food away. She looked around the orderly chaos that was Daniel's house. It looked much like his office back at the base. Artifacts, paintings, and various knickknacks were everywhere. From where she was standing she could count five different chess boards alone. 

"I can not find any evidence of a struggle." Teal'c informed as he came out of the back bedroom. 

"This would be a difficult house to conceal a fight in." Jack commented as he looked around. "I think I could break half the stuff in here just by looking at it the wrong way."

"I agree." Teal'c said with a nod. 

"It is more likely that he was taken somewhere between here and the Base."

"Guys, do you think that we might be jumping to conclusion here?" Sam pointed out. "I mean, isn't it more likely that he decided to go somewhere for the weekend and ended up with car trouble somewhere along the way? Depending on where he went, without a cell phone it could take hours for him to get to a phone."

"But his car's out front." Jack said.

"That's not Daniel's car." Sam corrected.

"It isn't?"

"No, Daniel drives a blue Saturn."

Jack looked out the window at the gray Toyota parked in the street out front. 

"Right...I knew that." Jack lied unconvincingly. "Look, Carter, if it was anyone else, I'd agree with you. But this is Daniel we're talking about. Half the time I have to force him to leave the Base, let alone the city. Something's wrong."

Sam nodded in agreement. She had only half-heartedly believed her own suggestion to begin with. 

"What do we do next?" Teal'c asked.

"I don't know." Jack admitted.

Jack wandered over to the hall closet and started rummaging through it. Curious, Sam stepped closer to see what he was doing. Jack found what he was looking for, an ironically sickenly pink bottle. He opened the Pepto and drank a few gulps of it as if it was a beer.

"You want a hit of this?" Jack offered the pink bottle to the others.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow in disapproval. Sam just shook her head and managed a brief smile.

"Suit yourselves." Jack shrugged.

Sam jerked at sudden sharp ringing of Jack's cell phone. He put down the bottle and fished the phone out of his pocket.

"O'Neill."

Sam's heart automatically quicken its pace. She had hoped that it was Daniel calling to let them know he was all right. However the expression on Jack's face told her that the news wasn't good. After listening for a few minutes Jack simply muttered a 'thanks' into the phone and disconnected the call.

"The...um...local police just found Daniel's car. We've got our guys going to collect the vehicle, but..."

"What?" Sam asked when Jack didn't continue.

"Apparently there's not much left of it."

"What do they believe has happened?" Teal'c asked with concern.

"The preliminary police report states that the driver was killed in a one car accident."

"The 'driver'?" Sam repeated. 

"A positive ID has not been made, after the accident the car caught on fire. There...there's only bone remaining. Dr. Kaff has been called to the Base, he'll do the dental X-rays there."

Sam was left speechless. She looked to Teal'c who was clearly thinking the worst, his eyes downcast to the floor. She had learned long ago that avoiding eye contact was as close as Teal'c came to expressing grief. 

At the moment Sam didn't even know what her own emotions were about the news. After everything they'd been through it didn't seem possible that Daniel could be killed by something so mundane as a car accident. It simply didn't seem real. Until now a part of her had really believed that all of this was an innocent mistake.

Sam was jolted out of her thoughts as Jack put his arm over her shoulders. She gratefully accepted the support. She turned to look at him and instantly saw that he didn't believe Daniel's had been killed, or if he did he wasn't about to show it. His faith was encouraging, even if it was bluff.

"We'll know in an hour." Jack said quietly as he started to guide Sam towards the front door. "Come on...let's go back to the Base." 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Daniel stretched and tried to rub the tired feeling out of his eyes. He'd been living on Abydos for almost a year now, but he still wasn't quite used to the 36 hour day. It was like a slight, yet continual, case of jet lag. He sat up and looked around at the deep red and orange tapestries that hung from the tent walls to keep the harsh Abydonian sun out.

Something seemed out of place. For a moment he felt a powerful wave of deja vu. The events of the next few moments were already in his mind. A sand storm was coming, a terrible one. He couldn't figure out why he knew it was coming, he just did. Of course putting your money down on a sandstorm sweeping over Abydos was a fairly safe bet on any day.

"Danielle?"

Daniel was pulled from his thoughts by Sha're's voice. He chuckled, she never got his name right. She always feminized it. Daniel rolled over Sha're, being careful to put as little of his weight on her as possible. Sha're wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself up into a kiss. 

Sha're laid back down and gazed up at him. For a moment Daniel was lost in her deep brown eyes, but that sickening feeling that something was happening that shouldn't be came back. Sha're's expression turned to one of concern.

"Are you ill?" Sha're asked.

"I'm fine." Daniel smiled. "The real question is: how are you two doing?"

Sha're smiled brightly. She struggled to sit up a bit in bed and then pulled up her shirt up high enough to expose her slowly rounding belly. Daniel gently spread his palm over her stomach. She wasn't far along enough in the pregnancy for him to feel his son or daughter kicking, however Sha're assured him that she could feel it every once in a while. 

"The Marista believes the child to be female." Sha're said with a undisguised disappointment in her voice. "She says my belly is too high to be holding a man."

"I will be thrilled either way." Daniel replied honestly.

Sha're smiled meekly and cast her eyes away from him. Daniel hoped that in time she'd come to understand that she didn't have to be so submissive to him. He had been trying for months to change the way the men of Abydos treated women. However, it was a difficult task to change thousands of years of culture. He still had to remind them at times to stop offering slaughtered lambs to Ra.

"Husband?" Sha're asked nervously.

"I'm sorry, what?" Daniel asked realizing that he hadn't been paying attention.

"Are you displeased?"

"No, no, of course not." Daniel chuckled. "I was just thinking."

"...Of home?" Sha're asked quietly. "You wish to go back..."

"Never." Daniel said firmly. "This is my home now, and I've never regretted it."

Sha're furrowed her brow the way she always did when she didn't understand Daniel's English.

"'Regret'," Daniel repeated "it means: to wish you hadn't done something."

"If...if..." Sha're couldn't continue, she clearly felt she was speaking out of place.

"It's the Stargate, the Cha'pa'i, isn't it?" Daniel sighed. "You think I've uncovered it because I want to go home?"

Sha're nodded very slightly.

"I'm just curious, I'm not going to leave you." Daniel replied. "It's such a fascinating find, it's my nature to want to study it. Earth certainly isn't going to try and open it again, they think we're dead. And with Ra gone, there's no danger anymore."

Sha're tried to hide the fact that she wasn't comforted by his words.

"Besides," Daniel continued "if something starts to go wrong with the baby, I want to be able to take you back. There are doctors there with far more skill than the Marista. You trust me on this, don't you?"

Before Sha're could respond a warning cry of 'Erestro! Erestro!' came from outside.

Sha're instantly tensed in fright. Erestros, or 'sandstorms', terrified her no matter how mild they were. Daniel had learned that her mother had been killed by a particularly violent storm when Sha're had only been a child. Daniel ran his hand through her hair reassuringly. 

"It's okay, it will be fine." Daniel said confidently. "It's still early morning, everyone should be near enough to home to get to shelter. We're safe here."

Sha're nodded, but she still bit her lower lip in nervous fear. Daniel leaned forward to kiss her cheek. Getting up he crawled into his sand coloured clothing. He instinctively picked up his glasses, but decided to leave them behind. They were his only pair and he'd hate to get them scratched in the beginnings of a sand storm.

He wasn't sure what he'd do if they broke or when the prescription on them was no longer strong enough. However if it came down to having to chose between being able to see well enough to read or staying on Abydos he had no doubt in his mind that he'd take the later. He walked over to the tent entrance.

"Don't leave..." Sha're whimpered.

"I'm just going to make sure that Good Father has all the animals inside. I'll be right back, I promise."

Sha're knit her brow again.

"'Promise'...it means...um...it means 'I'm coming right back'."

Daniel stepped outside into a searingly hot wind. He looked to the North and saw the darkening of the sky that heralded the coming storm. The dangerous sandblasting part of the storm still seemed to be a few miles away. Although the distance was hard to judge. However, the severity was not. Daniel had never seen the skies so angry.

Daniel expected to find Kasuf tending to the horses and camels, however he was not there. The camels had laid down and tucked their head under their bodies. They knew how to survive the coming storm. The horses however reared against their tethers, screaming in terror. They knew how to survive the storm as well, but their strategy was to out run it. 

Reaching up Daniel grabbed the bridle of a white Egyptian Arabian mare to calm her. He untied her to lead her to better shelter. If Kasuf didn't arrive soon to help him he'd have to simply set the horses that he couldn't get inside free. They would have a better chance of surviving the storm and returning that way. Daniel hadn't even brought the white mare ten feet before Kasuf came running towards him.

"Dan-el!" Kasuf cried in distress.

"What's wrong, Good Father?"

"We can not find Skaara!"

Daniel gasped violently. He looked frantically to the sky to see what time it was, but the haze of the sandstorm had already crept across the bright orb of the sun. He suddenly feared that he had slept much longer than he had originally thought.

"What time is it?" Daniel asked.

"Mid day."

Daniel swore and grabbed a fist full of the Arabian's flowing mane. He used the purchase to pull himself awkwardly on to the mare's back. Kasuf looked at him like he'd gone mad. 

"What are you doing?"

"I asked Skaara to met me at the Stargate at Mid morn, he would have been half way to the temple before the storm kicked up. He won't be able to make it there or back. I have to go get him."

"Let me go." Kasuf said moving towards his dark Stallion.

"No, please, go stay with Sha're. You know how the storms frighten her."

Daniel gripped the reins tight and turned the screaming Arabian towards the temple that held the Stargate.

"But you don't know how to ride..." Kasuf protested.

"I'm a fast learner."

Daniel didn't have to kick the mare to get her to take off. Simply giving her a bit of slack on the rein made her bolt in the direction she was facing. Her fear lengthened her stride and she flew across the desert sands with a speed that rivaled that of the wind itself.

Adrenaline alone was enough to allow Daniel to keep his balance on the powerful animal. He briefly marveled at how well he and the horse moved as one. However Daniel quickly realized that he and the mare had different opinions on which direction to travel.

The spooked Arabian wanted to run in the opposite direction of storm, however, in order to make it to Skaara and the temple they'd have to run along side it. They'd just have to hope that it didn't catch up with them before they caught up with Skaara.

Daniel had to pull on the right rein until blood dripped from the frothing mare's mouth. The Arabian tossed her head in protest, but she was forced to run towards the temple. Sand kicked up in front of the looming storm started to bite at Daniel's face and hands. 

"Skaara!" Daniel cried above the increasing howl of the wind. "Skaara!!"

"Danyell!" 

The cry had come from the left and Daniel almost brought the Arabian to the ground by suddenly asking her to change direction. The mare stumbled forward, her sheer momentum was the only thing that kept her on her feet as her hooves dug into the sand.

Skaara had been huddling down in the lee of a sand dune in a desperate attempt to ride out the storm. He stood and frantically waved his arms in the air. It was getting harder to see as more sand filled the air. Worse than their sight, it was the increasing toll the sand was having on their lungs that was becoming dangerous. 

Daniel pulled the mare to a skidding stop in front of Skaara. Without hesitating Skaara jumped up on the Arabian behind Daniel with a practiced ease. Although weighted down with two riders the mare dashed away from the storm that was quickly enveloping them.

There was no time to try and make it to the shelter of the temple and no amount of pressure would make the animal change her course now. They only had one direction that they could run in. With his own heart slamming against his ribs Daniel prayed that the horse's heart wouldn't simply explode in effort. 

The wind suddenly roared around them as the storm finally caught up. Daniel felt Skaara hiding his face in his back. Daniel bent down and bit the collar of his tunic and attempted to breath through the thick cotton. Unable to see in the blinding sand Daniel weld his eyes shut. He released his hold on the reins and put his trust in the Arabian to get them through this. 

Daniel must have been holding her back without knowing it, for the steed pushed herself harder. He wasn't sure how long they ran in the howling chaos. However when the horse suddenly veered in a different direction he risked trying to see what was happening.

He caught a glimpse of a large dark rectangle, like a door in the middle of the storm. The mare plunged towards it and down a short flight of stairs. For a terrifying moment everything went black. However when the tunnel opened up they found themselves in an expansive chamber held up by ornately carved columns.

In order to prevent herself from plowing into one of the pillars the horse slid sideways, throwing both of her riders. Daniel and Skaara went tumbling, but there was enough sand on the floor to allow them to do so without injury. 

Skaara sat up first. He looked around in bemusement and then laughed joyfully at their narrow escape. Daniel wasn't ready to look back on this and laugh just yet. He slowly stood and shook himself off. He looked around briefly, his vision was blurry but he knew instantly that he'd never been here before. The storm must have uncovered the entranceway.

The mare that had saved them took a few steps away and then put her head down. She panted heavily as blood and foam ran from her mouth and nose. Tears from the stinging sand traced down her blood speckled face. Daniel walked up to the animal and ran his hand over her quivering neck.

"Thank you." He whispered. 

"Danyell." Skaara called.

"You alright, Skaara?"

"Yes. Come...look at this..." Skaara breathed in amazement.

Daniel blinked as much of the sand out of his eyes as he could. He walked up to where Skaara was standing. At first he didn't see what had caught the young man's attention. Slowly he started to make out large carvings in the walls. They were symbols he had seen before.

"Wow..." Daniel said in awe.

"What do they say?" Skaara asked.

"I don't think they say anything." Daniel replied. "For a lack of a better word, I think they're addresses."

"Add dresses?" Skaara repeated.

"Gate Addresses...thousands of them..."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Jack looked around his desk irritably. He needed to find something to do with his hands to keep his nervous energy at bay. Finding a pen he turned it over in his hands a few times and then started clicking the end. Sam looked up from the scientific paper that she was pretending to read.

"Sorry..." Jack muttered. 

Sam smiled sadly and put the paper down. Glancing over at the clock she sighed heavily. She swore that she had seen time move faster around black holes than this. Teal'c was standing motionless by the door, adding to the effect of the time shift. 

Jack looked like he was about to get up in order to pace when the phone on his desk rang jarringly. He just watched it ring a few times before answering it. Eventually he reached out and stopped its incessant noise.

"O'Neill."

"Sir," Dr. Kaff's mellow voice came over the line "I have a positive ID."

Jack looked up at Sam and Teal'c, they stared back helplessly. Jack closed his eyes as Dr. Kaff suddenly cleared his throat in the special quiet way that only medical doctors seemed to be able to do.

"I'm sorry, General O'Neill...Dr. Jackson is dead." 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"This is just amazing...there's no other word for it." Daniel beamed. "The Stargate must connect our whole galaxy!"

Skaara was bouncing up and down as well, but more from natural energy than from sharing in Daniel's excitement about the discovery. The storm had swept by in a matter of a few hours and they were now walking back home with the tired Arabian following behind. 

Daniel had wanted to stay longer in the new chamber, however he knew Sha're would be worried. It had taken a while to get their bearings after the storm, but they eventually made it back to the group of canvas tents that they called home. 

It wasn't until Daniel noticed that no one was out cleaning up after the storm that he realized that something was wrong. Both he and Skaara froze as a wail of agony tore through the still air. 

Daniel stumbled forward as he broke into a run. There was a large crowd around his home, standing quietly with their eyes cast to the sands. Daniel rushed up to go inside, however two strong men restrained him before he could get there.

"Sha're!"

"Danielle!" Sha're's distressed voice called from inside.

"Let me go!" Daniel cried desperately.

"You can not go in there." Kasuf said firmly as he stepped in front of Daniel. "It is forbidden."

"She is my wife! I have to help her!"

"There is nothing you can do. The Marista is with her."

"What's happening?!"

"She could not be calmed during the storm...she is losing the child. I am sorry."

Daniel fought bitterly against the men holding him. White hot pain lanced through his temple, taking his breath away. Everything had suddenly turned white, but he didn't care, he had to get to her. 

"Sha're!"

"Calm down." A female voice said gently. "You are going to injure yourself."

"Let me go!" Daniel wailed. "I have to take her back through the Gate!"

"Someone get me something to sedate him with...now." The woman growled testily. 

Daniel suddenly remembered the white room, the guards, the doctor, everything. The realization was like being dropped into an ice bath. The men on Abydos that had been holding him hostage in his dream were different now, but very real and just as strong. Daniel looked up to see some entering the room with a syringe.

The fear of being drugged again gave Daniel new strength to break free. The leather strap at his wrists failed and he suddenly had more freedom. He managed to push one of the guards into the wall using the weight of his own body. As he did so his heavily bleeding temple with the damaged memory disk slammed into his captor's shoulder.

Daniel gasped as a blinding flash over took his senses. When his vision cleared he found himself up high, looking down at the pavement of a parking lot far below. At first an adrenaline induced fear washed over him. However it was quickly replaced by a depression so intense it threatened to kill him...before he could kill himself.

"Daniel?" Jack asked softly.

Daniel looked back over his shoulder from his perch on the far side of his balcony rail. He looked away, unsure if he was relieved to see his friend or not. 

"What...um...what are you doing out here?" Jack asked as casually as he could manage. He stayed in the doorway, trying to act unconcerned.

"None of it means anything." Daniel sighed as tears started to trace down his face.

"Daniel, why don't you come inside." Jack suggested with a forced smile.

"I tried...it just goes away." Daniel said vacantly.

"Okay," Jack said without really knowing what to say next "we'll, uh, we'll get it back."

"You can't get it back." Daniel protested weakly.

"Well...whatever's wrong, we'll fix it."

"You don't even know what I'm talking about." Daniel accused.

"No." Jack admitted quietly. "I don't...but come inside.""Jack?" Daniel asked as if noticing him for the first time.

"I'm here."

Daniel felt Jack's strong grip on his arm. He peacefully allowed his friend to guide him back over to the safe side of the rail. Not taking any chances Jack lead him back inside the apartment. 

Once inside Daniel collapsed to his hands and knees. Jack rubbed between Daniel's shoulder blades as he dry heaved uncontrollably. Once again his vision failed him. When it returned he was still on his knees retching against an empty stomach, however the floor had switched to a monotonous white.

"What is going on in here?" A deep male voice growled.

"Jack?" Daniel whimpered. "Jack, help me..."

"Hold him down!" The doctor's voice ordered.

"What th..." The male voice started.

"Get out of here, you're in the way!" The doctor snapped angrily. "If I can't get that broken piece out we're going to lose him."

Daniel couldn't fight anymore. Expecting a struggle the men helping the doctor tackled him far more roughly than needed. They brought him back to his feet and pinned him up against the wall. Daniel's vision swum for a moment. 

"Dr. Jackson I presume," a familiar female voice said warmly "I'm Dr. Samantha Carter." 

"Doctor?" Jack questioned mockingly. "I thought you wanted to be called 'Captain'."

Daniel was brought back as one of the guards snaked his hand into his sweat soaked hair to hold his head back. Daniel didn't try to hide the fear in his eyes as the doctor stepped up to him. If anything he was hoping that it would affect her feminine heart. 

She did pause before reaching out to touch him, but her cold expression didn't soften. Daniel closed his eyes and just waited for her to do whatever it was she was going to. Clearly there was no stopping her. He felt her delicate fingertips exploring the broken disk for a moment. With a practiced move she ripped it free in one piece. 

"Let him go."

Once released Daniel slipped to the floor. Sitting with his back against the wall he stared forward blankly. Thick blood and thin tears mixed as they traced down his face. The doctor looked around small room and its blood smeared walls.

"This is unacceptable." She clucked. "I want him moved into a room with padding."

The two guards hesitated to leave.

"Go, he's not going to hurt me. The drugs will have him out soon."

The men looked at Daniel uncertainly, but they heeded their orders and left. The doctor knelt down to Daniel's level and pressed a gaze pad against his bleeding temple. When she was satisfied the that blood was clotting she pulled a pen light from her pocket and flashed it in his blue eyes to no effect.

"Can you see?" She asked. "Can you hear me?"

It was Daniel's turn to give her the silent treatment. The doctor put the pen light away and sat back on her heels. Daniel brought his eyes back into focus and stared at her accusingly. Although the blood had stopped tears still streaked down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry..." The doctor started.

"No you're not."

Daniel continued to stare at her until he felt the drugs starting to slow his racing heart. He tried to resist, fearing that he might fall into a nightmare worse than the one he was living in. However, it didn't take long for him to lose the fight. When he had passed out the doctor checked his pulse. She lifted up one of his eyelids, but his eyes were rolled back to white.

"You're right...I'm not." The doctor sighed. "For what it's worth, this is nothing personal."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

"General?"

"I'm here." Jack answered Dr. Kaff who was still on the line.

"This can wait, but I do need your signature on Dr. Jackson's Death Certificate."

"Right...I'll be down in a few minutes." 

Jack put down the phone and just stared at it. He thought he heard Teal'c asking to be dismissed so he nodded. When he felt he could face her Jack looked up at Sam. She had gotten to her feet, but seemed undecided on what to do next. Her light blue eyes were brightened by tears that she couldn't quite seem to shed. 

Getting up from his desk Jack walked over and pulled Sam into a comforting embrace. She put head against his chest and closed her eyes, finally allowing the tears to slip. Jack smoothed out her hair. For a long moment the pair simply tried to find comfort in one another.

"I can't believe this." Sam whispered.

"Don't worry, we'll see him again." Jack forced a smile. "Daniel has an annoying habit of showing up where he's least expected."

"Can't keep a good dog down, eh?" Sam tried to chuckled.

"Well, I don't know about dogs, but Archeologists seem amazingly resilient to this sort of thing."

Sam nodded and pulled away. Jack was amazed how well she pulled herself together. In just a few moments she seemed to regain her composure, her strong outer shell intact once again. Jack genuinely smiled.

"I'm going downstairs, if you wa..."

"I'd like to come with you." Sam interrupted. 

Sam was worried about going into the morgue and finding the charred bones still out on the exam table. However, the place was spotless, even the metal table gleamed like it had just been polished. The only evidence that Dr. Kaff had been working on an autopsy was the two sets of six small dental X-rays still hanging on the light box.

It was clear to see, even from across the room, how Dr. Kaff could be so sure in his ID. The two set of X-rays were almost perfectly identical. Sam walked up to the X-rays while Dr. Kaff and Jack spoke quietly. 

Sam looked at the first set that were labeled 'Jackson D. 2002'. The places where Daniel had metal fillings showed up clearly, and could be seen on the post-mortem set as well. The second set of X-rays had one extra filling, but when she looked back at the original she could see that the tooth in question had been starting to crack three years ago. So it would make sense that he would have had it fixed. 

"Three years ago..." Sam whispered to herself and then gasped violently.

"Carter?" Jack said in concern. "Are you alright?"

"This isn't Daniel, Sir." Sam replied.

"What?" Jack and Dr. Kaff asked at the same time.

"It's not Daniel," Sam insisted "it can't be." 

"Colonel Carter," Dr. Kaff said softly "if these remains aren't Dr. Jackson's then they are a work of art, a Masterpiece of forensic dentistry."

"Then call The Louvre," Sam snarled "because it isn't him."

"Carter?" Jack stepped closer and put his hand on her shoulder. Sam pulled away and pulled the first set of the X-ray sets down off the light box.

"These dental records are from three years ago." Carter explained.

"They are the most recent ones that I have." Dr. Kaff said. "It shouldn't make a difference."

"It does...Sir, Daniel doesn't have any of these fillings anymore."

"What?" Dr. Kaff asked in surprise. "No, that's not possible."

"It is." Sam insisted. "When he came from being Ascended the Ancients couldn't copy anything that wasn't organic, that wasn't already set in his DNA."

"So he has new teeth." Jack pieced together. "And whoever set this up didn't think of that."

"Exactly."

"Then who is this?" Dr. Kaff asked as he gestured to one of the metal lockers. "If all this work was done postmortem, I don't think I'll be able to figure it out."

"I don't care." Jack stated gruffly. "What I want to know is who wants us to think Daniel's dead?" 

"Some with a great deal of resources at their disposal." Dr. Kaff noted.

"Not to mention access to Daniel's dental records." Sam added.

"Those wouldn't be a difficult to come by as you might think." Dr. Kaff stated. "However access to a body of Daniel's build and the artistic know how to change the fillings, that's something special."

"Who would have access to such things?" Jack asked.

"My first guess would be a medical establishment, morgue, lab, hospital, something like that." Dr. Kaff suggested.

"What would they want with Daniel?" Sam asked concerned.

"I don't know, but they aren't getting it if I have anything to say about it." Jack snarled.

Sam watched as Jack went over to the phone. She noticed that he dialed '9' to get an outside line. 

"Who are you calling?" Sam asked.

"The newspaper." Jack answered.

"Why?" Dr. Kaff asked.

"Somebody went to a lot of trouble to set this up." Jack explained as he half listened to the automated menu. "I think the best thing to do is to let them think that we believe it."

"You think it might help whoever did this lower their guard?" Sam asked, excited that they might have the beginnings of a plan. "Or maybe even flush someone?"

"Exactly, at least it's worth a try...Hello, I need to talk to Obituaries." Jack put his hand over the receiver while he waited on hold. "Carter, we're having the wake at your house this time, right?"

"Is it my turn again?"

"I think so."

"When?" Sam asked.

"Sunday."

"I'll have the house wired for sound on Saturday." 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

The doctor looked down on Daniel critically. They had cleaned him up and moved him into a room where he'd be less likely to hurt himself. Still his health was declining too rapidly. His mental state was far worse than she had expected at the beginning of this. Even in unnatural sleep he jerked from some unknown nightmare. 

The doctor had brought a reversal for the sedative he'd been given. She was about to wake him when he suddenly rolled onto his back and seemed to slip into a peaceful rest. Growling in frustration she decided there really was no sense in waking him now and left him laying unconscious on the floor.

Walking down the hall and then up three flights of steps she made her way to a familiar office. She rapped her knuckles three times against the door. When she got a response she opened the door. Letting herself in she closed the door behind herself.

An older man with a weary expression on his face looked up from his deep cherry desk. He had mounds of paperwork in various stages of disarray spread out before him. However, the paper wasn't what he was working on. He seemed to be paying far more attention to a bottle of dark liquor. 

The doctor waited patiently as he poured himself another glass. She looked around at the bookshelves that lined the well decorated office, but she didn't bother to read the titles. The man behind the desk drained his glass and turned his attention to the intruder.

"A little bird told me that you're breaking your own rules." The older man accused mockingly.

"What?"

"You've been talking to Dr. Jackson. You were the one who said that he was not to be spoken to under any circumstances. Having a change in heart?"

"No, I simply can't work with him...I need the other one."

"No!" He barked in sudden anger. 

"I ca..."

"You asked for one and you made me choose between them! So you're stuck with the one that I picked! I'm not going to let you torture them both..."

"I'm not torturing anyone." She said defensively.

"Tell that to Dr. Jackson." He snarled. "He's a good man and I am personally going to Hell for letting you have him."

"No one forced you to do this."

"Yeah, you gave me a great set of options." He growled.

"I...I don't like this anymore than you do."

While the man poured another drink the pair was silent. The doctor kept her face expressionless, but inside her stomach was twisting in a knot. This had to work, she needed answers and she was running out of time. She took a breath and started again.

"This one has too many layers of psychosis to get through." The doctor explained. "It could take months to get deep enough into his mind, time that I don't have."

"You're the one who's so good with the technology, find a way."

"I'm trying, but there is only so much I can do with just the one. I can't truly experiment in fear that I'll lose him and I'll have nothing to show for it."

"Other than his blood on your hands?" The man hissed like a snake snapping at prey.

"The blood of one man doesn't concern me! What concerns me is making this work. Right now I'm failing, this one has too many strong memories..."

"Stop calling him 'this one', you're driving me insane with it!" The older man spat angrily. "And get it through your head that their isn't a single member of the entire SGC that isn't messed up in the head."

"The other can't be as bad as this on...Jackson."

"Forget it! You asked for one of the two and you've got him...but our deal ends there!"

"This is insane, I'm only aski..."

"No!" The man cried in a rage. "Find a way to get what you need from Jackson...you can't have O'Neill!"

Enraged silence fell over the pair. It quickly became clear to the doctor that her adversary wasn't going to respond to her current tone. She took a deep breath to calm herself. She soften her expression to one of confused sorrow.

"I don't understand...why is it that my offer is worth the life of one man but not two?"

"Because I can see the logical conclusion of that path." The man replied sadly. "Today it will be two lives...tomorrow a thousand."

"There are only two men who qualify." The doctor replied calmly. "So your fears are unbased. Give me this one other..."

"When you came here you swore you'd only need one of them..."

"Were you trying to set me up to fail from the beginning?" She suddenly accused.

"Why would I do that?" 

"How did you decided between them?" 

The man fell silent again. He ran his hands through his thinning hair with a deep sigh.

"How?" The doctor asked again. "Prove to me that this wasn't a set up."

"Let's just say that one of them is a good friend of mine, and the other is practically a stranger. You told me they'd only have a 5 percent chance of surviving this...so forgive my bias."

"I can not forgive it!" The doctor hissed. "Need I remind you what is at stake here?"

He didn't respond, he just closed his eyes again a throbbing headache. He'd had a twist in his stomach ever since this whole project fell into his lap. The doctor saw the strain this was having on him. Using it to her advantage she switch tactics.

"If you let me stop with this one now and retry with the other there's a chance that they might both survive." She said gently.

"No, you've already ruined Dr. Jackson...he'll never be right again. Ju...just push him harder, you might as well at this point. I'm sure he has what you're looking for."

"And if he dies before I get it?"

"Then...then we'll talk about Jack." The man sighed in defeat.

"Thank you."

The doctor took a nervous step back as the man rose from behind his desk. He walked over to his door and held it open for her with an irate look on his tired face.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, 'Doctor', I have to attend a funeral for a death that I staged."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

It was raining. Not the gentle life giving rain that normally fell, but a violent and seemingly vengeful storm. It lashed down as if it was trying to strip the decaying trees from the land. Lightning cracked and tore at the angry sky, bringing with it flashes of the dead forest. 

Daniel ran through the mucky leaf litter blindly. He didn't know how he'd been separated from the others, everything in the storm was chaos. As he ran past a thorny plant it seemed to strike out at him. It caught his soaked jacket and hauled him back forcefully. Struggling against the unknown foe Daniel only managed to tangle himself further and sink the thorns deeper into his skin.

"Jack! Sam! Teal'c!" Daniel cried out through the worsening storm.

Daniel's calls were only heard by the Jaffa pursing him. The distinct sound of staff weapon blasts cut through the forest, slamming into the dead trees that momentarily burned until the rain extinguished the flames. Daniel couldn't see very well in the down pour, but he could hear their heavy footsteps slogging towards him.

Frantic to escape Daniel tore the light weight SGC jacket off and left it behind. He ran from the two Jaffa in a weaving pattern, trying to make himself a harder target to hit. The Jaffa's heavy armor made it difficult for them to match Daniel's speed and agility.

Digging his hands into the soft mud of a slippery slope Daniel managed to claw his way to the top of it. Unsure of where he was or where he was going he hesitated a moment too long. Although unable to climb after him one of the Jaffa managed to sear a staff blast into the back of his shoulder.

Crying out in pain Daniel lost his footing and slid down the far side of the hill. The trip down was a rough one. Every time his injured shoulder landed it brought him to the brink of passing out. When he finally stopped he just laid on the cold ground with the smell of decaying leaves invading his sinuses. The rain continued to fall, as though determined to drown him.

If it hadn't been for Sam's sudden scream he may have just given in and blissfully fallen into unconsciousness. However the fear in Sam's strained voice forced him to his feet. Daniel looked around the diseased forest desperately. It wasn't until lightning split the sky above that he saw what was happening. 

One of the Lesser System Lords had Sam pinned to the wet ground. She fought like a wildcat as the Gou'ald held her down with the weight of his body and tore open her jacket. Afraid that he could not reach her in time Daniel pulled out his side arm and fired the entire clip into the Gou'ald's back. 

The Gou'ald made a horrifying shriek and flashed his glowing eyes at Daniel. Despite his injuries the Gou'ald got to his feet and fled into the dark forest. Daniel ran up to Sam and fell to his knees at her side. She was covered in blood that was steaming as the cold rain struck it.

"Sam? Sam!"

She could not respond. At least one of the bullets had passed all the way through the Gou'ald and sunk deep into Sam's chest. The panic in her light blue eyes was heartbreaking as she struggled for breath. 

Daniel didn't know what to do. With heavily shaking hands he searched out the source blood. Sam arched her back, clawing at ground in agony. With a sickening convulsion she laid back to the earth completely relaxed.

"Carter!" 

"Ja..."

Daniel was cut off as Jack tackled him. Daniel screamed as Jack drove his staff weapon burn into the ground. Jack's rage made him fight with the power of a lion. He dragged Daniel to his feet.

"I trusted you!" Jack spat.

"Jack...I...I didn't mea..."

Daniel doubled over in nauseating pain as Jack brought his knee up into his stomach. Daniel reached out to push Jack away and found his hand on Jack's sidearm. Hoping to keep Jack from killing him long enough for him to explain what had happened he stole the gun. 

In the pouring rain they now struggled for possession over the weapon. Daniel's hand slipped and the gun fired with a loud crack. Jack instantly stopped struggling. His expression of blind rage degraded into one of confusion. Blood drip from the corner of his mouth, mixing with the rain that traced down his face like tears. Unable to support his own weight anymore Jack collapsed.

Daniel was in such shock over what he'd done that he didn't even care when some grabbed him from behind. He was forced away from his dead friends to a clearing where Teal'c was standing over the dying System Lord.

Thrown to his knees Daniel watched in horror as Teal'c reached down and helped the Gou'ald symbiot escape from his dying host. Shaking violently Daniel tried to free himself as Teal'c brought the writhing symbiot towards him. Wordlessly Teal'c placed the snake like creature on the back of Daniel's neck where it wrapped itself tight, preparing to burrow into his flesh.

"No!" Daniel screamed in terror. "This can't be happening!" 

With the sounds of the desperate cry still ringing off the glass walls around him Daniel cried out incoherently at the scenery change. From his place on the wet tile floor he looked around frantically at the bright sterile environment around him. The rain was still falling, but now the drops were warm and gentle against his bare skin. 

It took him a few more seconds to realize that it wasn't rain at all, just the spray of a shower. Still shaking Daniel pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them close. Blood continued to trickle from his temple, but now his wrists also seeped red. After having escaped the leather last time, they were taking no chances and had used tight metal cuff today. 

Daniel stared at the diluted blood that the water was washing down the drain. The doctor had treated him differently today. There had been more of a desperate edge to her movements. He had thought that he was getting closer to her showing some mercy, this morning had proved him wrong. 

The events of the day were a chaotic blur to him. His temple throbbed and his throat felt raw. He recalled a soul tearing agony, although he only vaguely remembered screaming. If he had remembered any past experiences during it, he'd forgotten them again. His only theory for the change was that the doctor had modified something, and it had gone wrong.

It must have. The flashback he'd just suffered from wasn't even a real memory, just a nightmare he'd had a few times many years ago. Daniel reached up to his temple to remove the disk. His skin flashed to ice as he realize that the disk wasn't there. He was starting to lose touch with reality on his own. 

Daniel dragged his trembling hands through his wet hair. The steady fall of hot water was doing nothing to sooth him, neither mental nor physically. Wrapping his arms around his knees once more he pulled them closer to his chest. He didn't even realize that he was rocking slowly back and forth. He wanted to close his eyes, but he didn't dare. There was no telling where he'd go if he did.

"Guys, I'd appreciate it if you could find me before I lose my mind...if it's not too late already."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"O'Neill?"

"Yes, Teal'c?"

"A man I am unfamiliar with has just arrived." Teal'c informed gravely.

"Show me."

Teal'c lead Jack through the crowd of quietly conversing people who had come to Sam's house. Jack hadn't really thought that anyone responsible would show to the actual wake, it was more for keeping up with appearances. However Teal'c seemed to think otherwise.

The moment they stepped into the front room Jack knew who Teal'c was talking about. The man pulled his hands through his silver hair and looked around. Jack had to admit that the Jaffa had a quick eye for spotting him as an outsider. However in this case the outsider had been invited.

"That's Richard Denahe...General Denahe." Jack said with a smile.

"I do not like the looks of him." Teal'c said bluntly.

"Few people do." Jack chuckled. "But appearances can be deceiving. You should know that better than most T."

"He smells of alcohol." Teal'c growled sullenly.

"Yeah, well so do I on the weekends."

"What is he doing here?" Teal'c insisted. "He is certainly no friend to Daniel Jackson."

"Relax, Teal'c. I asked him to come. He and I go way back. I'm hoping that he might be able to help us find Daniel."

"You trust this man?"

"With my life," Jack replied seriously "on more than one occasion."

Teal'c took note of the change of tone in Jack's voice. He bowed his head slightly and backed away. Before making his way over to Denahe Jack went over to Sam. He apologized to the people she was speaking with and pulled her aside.

"Sir?"

"Did you leave any of the rooms bug free?" Jack asked in a hushed voice.

"My bedroom."

"Perfect, can I borrow it?" Jack asked. "I promise not to touch anything."

"Sure, but what's going on?"

"I'm calling in a favour and I'd rather not have it on tape, even if it's one of our own."

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

Jack made his way purposely over to Denahe. The man who had been discussing Jack's fate only hours before forced a smile as his old friend approached. He stepped up to Jack and they shook hands before Jack pulled him into a bear hug.

"Jack...it's been a long time." Denahe replied as he untangled himself from Jack.

"Too long." Jack agreed. "Thanks for coming on such short notice. I know how hard it is for you to get away from the office."

"Well, you know this is the first time you've invited me up here."

"Really? I guess I have a hard time getting away from the office as well."

Jack flashed a tight smile and put his arm over Denahe's shoulder. He brought his lips near his ear. Teal'c was right, he'd been drinking a little heavier than usual.

"Can we talk?" Jack asked in a low voice.

Denahe nodded slightly.

Jack pulled away and walked off towards Carter's bedroom fully confident that Denahe would follow. As he did Denahe noticed a large man that had to be the Jaffa Teal'c staring at him stoically. He hadn't read anywhere that Jaffa could read minds, but the fear suddenly crossed his mind.

Jack noticed Teal'c's look as well, and in a way he appreciated his over protective attitude. Stepping into Sam's bedroom he waited for Denahe to join him and then closed the door. Denahe turned and looked at Jack expectantly.

"So, Rich...how's good old Area 51 these days?" Jack asked casually.

"A lot harder since you guys proved that their actually are Aliens out there." Denahe replied with a forced smile. "I mean that used to just be our cover story so we could test planes in peace."

"And now you've actually got UFO's to deal with, eh?" Jack chuckled.

"That's right, and all the other stuff you've got us storing there. You'd think I was running a 'U-Stor-It' for weird shit not an Air Force Base."

"Sorry about that." Jack smiled. "You can blame Daniel for most of it, he always insisted on bringing back two of everything he found."

The mention of Daniel seemed to stall the conversation. Jack had almost forgotten why he'd dragged his old Commanding Officer all the way to Colorado. He had served under him for years, until he'd moved into the world of Area 51. It wasn't until Jack had joined up with Stargate that he even knew what had become of him.

Denahe shifted his weight uncomfortably, guilt gnawing a sizable hole in his gut. He had not expected to be invited, but he'd known that he had to come once asked. He had gone to the trouble of staging the death to make Dr. Jackson's disappearance easier on Jack. However it was clear that the man hadn't slept in days.

"I'm sorry about your friend." Denahe said quietly. "I never did get a chance to meet him, you know how infrequently I get off the base since I took it over two years ago after that whole NID fiasco. Anyway, I did read some of the more pertinent mission reports you've sent me since your promotion. He sounded like he was a good man."

"He is."

Denahe knit his brow in confusion.

"Daniel's not dead." Jack explained confidently. "This wake is just to make whoever took him think that we're not looking for him."

"I...I don't understand. I thought Dr. Jackson was killed in a..."

"No, someone just wants us to think that. But luckily Carter is smarter than they are."

"What?" Denahe asked, barely hiding his shock.

"The remains were a set up, an elaborate one. Which is why I asked you here. I need your help."

"My help?"

"Has anyone tried to steal anything from Area 51 lately?" Jack asked seriously.

"Jack, you know that our security is tighter than Stargate's."

"So that's a 'no'?" Jack pressed.

"Yes...I mean no." Denahe rolled his eyes in frustration. "I mean that no one has stolen anything."

"That you know of."

"Jack, what are you suggesting?"

Jack didn't answer right away. He paced for a moment and then forced himself to stand still.

"I can only think of two reasons why someone would kidnap Daniel. Either to force him into translating something, or to try and pry some of that Ancient know-how from him. I highly doubt the first one, it would have been so much easier to take one of us and blackmail him...which has worked in the past. Plus why bother going to so much trouble to make us think he's dead?

On the other hand if someone wanted something that even he can't remember it could take months if not years to get to it, if it even can be reached. Either way I'm sure they figured it would be nice if no one was looking for him."

"What does any of that have to do with an improbable theft at 51?" Denahe asked defensively.

"We've got all sorts of memory gadgets and even more crap that we don't even know how to work stored there. Maybe someone knows better than we do. I know that a lot of cooperate money flows through 51...and we've have snafus with allowing non-military companies to backwards engineer our alien stuff before. Maybe it's happened aga..."

"Has it even occurred to you that one of these Gou'ald you guys have been pissing off could be behind all of this." Denahe interrupted.

"No. Ba'al is really the only Gou'ald left out there with any real power. And if he had taken Daniel I guarantee you that he wouldn't go to any trouble to hide it. He'd be gloating about it."

"I still don't see how I can help."

"Just go through your records, and inventory, make sure everything's still there." Jack raked his hands through his hair and paced once more. "Any abnormality at all might help."

"You're asking for a lot of man hours here, Jack." Denahe stalled. "Like you said: we've got a lot of crap there."

"Please." Jack asked desperately. "I have to find him...and this is the only place I can think of to start."

"I...I'll do what I can."

"Thank you. I knew I could count on you, Sir."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Daniel sat with his back up against a set of cold iron bars. Using his knee as a desk he scribbled in a small journal that he kept in his breast pocket. A hand suddenly snaked over his shoulder and took the journal away from him.

"Hey..." Daniel protested irritably.

Jack ignored Daniel and tore a blank page out of the back of the journal he'd just procured. Having taken what he wanted Jack held the book up. Daniel reached through the bars that separated them and snatched it back. 

"You could have asked." Daniel huffed.

Jack just shrugged. He took the stolen piece of paper and started to fold it carefully. When Daniel figured out what he was doing he rolled his eyes and went back to copying the alien symbols some previous prisoner had etched into the dirty walls. 

Having finished his origami project Jack held up the small paper airplane. He inspected the craft with a self satisfied smile. Closing one eye to help with his aim he skillfully launched the plane through the rusting bars. 

The paper flew gracefully across the narrow hall, through the next set of bars, and hit Teal'c in the chest.

"Score!" Jack crowed triumphantly.

Teal'c looked down at the little dive bomber. He picked up the delicate paper plane between two fingers and looked at it in mild curiosity, or possibly disgust, it was hard to tell. Looking up at Jack he raised his eyebrow in silent questioning.

"Well...fly it back over here." Jack instructed.

"For what purpose?" 

"'Purpose'?" Jack repeated in an exasperated tone. "For crying out loud, Teal'c, there's no purpose...it's just a game."

Teal'c clearly still did not understand.

"I'm bored." Jack explained.

"Jack, if you're so bored, why not expend some energy trying to figure a way out of here?" Daniel suggested.

"Naw...I'm sure Carter has it under control."

Daniel took a breath to protest, however he was stopped by a whispered hissing sound. He and Jack both looked around until the noise repeated itself. They looked up to the tiny barred window that was set at ground level to the outside world. Carter's bright smile glittered in the moonlight. Wordlessly she dropped a small bag and a zat gun into Jack's cell. Without further ado she left, knowing they could handle it from there.

"See?" Jack chirped. "Have faith, Danny-boy."

Daniel just shook his head slightly to phase back into reality. He rubbed absent mindedly at his abraded wrist, which they hadn't bothered to wrap. His stomach snarled at him angrily. They hadn't forced him to eat in two days, nor had they offered him anything. 

Something had changed, suddenly his life wasn't worth anything to them anymore. At the same time it was clear that they didn't have whatever it was that they wanted. Too exhausted to try and figure it out he just stared at the floor. Either his friends would find him, or they wouldn't. 

"Have faith, Danny." He muttered to himself. "...I'm trying, Jack."

The sounds of footsteps outside the locked door made Daniel get to his feet. He backed into the corner to keep them from being able to flank him. If they no longer care if he lived there could be no harm in fighting against them one last time. 

He was surprised to see both of the men and the doctor enter the room. Usually she waited somewhere else until the guards had him properly subdued. This time she followed them in with her hands stuffed deep into her large lab coat pockets. She looked nervous, actually she looked near tears.

Daniel's attention was pulled away as one of the men took his upper arm. He lashed out at the man like a cornered animal. Daniel found himself facing the corner with both hands behind his back so fast that he couldn't piece together exactly what had happened. He cried out in pain and frustration as they clamped the metal cuff on his already bleeding wrists. He had not been expecting to lose the fight before it even began. 

The men turned him around to face the doctor. Once again Daniel noticed how anxious she seemed, which did not help calm his own nerves. She pulled one of her hands out of her pocket and drew out one of the thin metal disks. Daniel grit his teeth as she pressed it into place.

"Clearly this isn't working!" Daniel snarled as they forced him down on his knees. "Unless your sole goal is to drive me insane."

"No." The doctor said gently.

To Daniel's surprise the doctor brought out another disk and secured it to her own temple. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, obviously getting used to the odd feeling brought on by the disk.

"What are you doing?" Daniel asked.

He hadn't been expecting an answer, and he didn't get one. When she finally pulled her other hand out of her pocket Daniel instinctively tried to get to his feet. She wore what at first looked exactly like a Gou'ald hand device. When she brought her hand up he could see that although of the same design this one differed slightly. It was smaller, silver in colour, with a deep blue stone.

"You're a Gou'ald!" Daniel hissed as he tried to free himself again.

"No, never. Parasitic vultures!" She replied heatedly. "I detest their kind. They picked our civilization clean as we fell, used what they stole to rise to 'Gods'. But we're slowly getting stronger."

"Now that we've cleaned them out for you!" Daniel spat.

"Yes, we owe you a great deal." She admitted. "Which is part of what makes this so hard."

"Who are you?!"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She replied sadly.

"At least tell me what you want!"

"Something you don't remember."

"And what if I simply never knew?" Daniel asked desperately. "You'll still kill me trying to get it?"

"I have no choice...if this doesn't work I'm going to be forced into taking another innocent life in addition to yours."

Daniel bucked violently against the two men, however they held him with an iron grip. The doctor instantly ended his struggling with the pale blue light that the unusual hand device gave off.

It wasn't painful the way that a Gou'ald hand device was, but it was still far from pleasant. Even if he wasn't aware of what toll the device was taking on him, his body knew something was wrong. His heart rate jumped forcing his breathing to grow rapidly shallower. Through a quickly encroaching darkness he could still hear the doctor's soft voice.

"I'm sorry...this time I truly mean it. This really isn't your fight, Daniel Jackson, but that doesn't change your involvement in it."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Jack lounged on his couch at home with Daniel's last hefty mission report. He'd managed to make it through six beers, but only fifty pages. So far the whole thing was standard fare, nothing out of the ordinary or even the slightest bit useful. It had been a long shot, but he felt he needed to at least try. 

Putting the report down on the floor he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Glancing over at the clock he found it to be nearly two am. At some point in time it had started to rain. Jack watched the rain drip down the windows for moment, at a loss as to what to do next. 

He decided that cleaning up the empty beer bottles was probably the best idea he had at the moment. Jack was halfway to the kitchen when there was a timid rapping sound coming from the door. 

Suspicious Jack put the beer bottles down and retrieved a handgun from one of the drawers. The knocking repeated itself. He opened the door just enough to see his late night guest. Lowering is weapon he instinctively opened the door the rest of the way.

It was a woman, soaking wet, and shivering uncontrollably in the rain. She wore little more than a pair of white scrubs that had numerous tears and stains. Blood dripped from her temple, mixing with the rain and tears that ran down her face.

"J...Jack..." the doctor stuttered "Jack O'Neill?"

"Um...do I know you?"

"No..."

Jack reached out and caught the woman as she collapses. With his help she managed to keep on her feet, although she quickly buried her face in his chest and began to weep bitterly. Not knowing what to do Jack just rested his hand on her upper back in a awkward attempt to calm the stranger.

"Please help me..." She whimpered. "Daniel said you'd help me..."

"Daniel?" Jack asked shocked.

She nodded miserably. 

"Where is he?"

"I...I don't remember. He helped me get away, there was so much confusion. We were running blindly, they were chasing us. He...he drew them off and they..." She broke down into crocodile tears once more "...they caught him. I wanted to turn back, but he screamed at me to run. They took him back...please, please don't let them find me! I can't go back!"

She wrapped her arms tight around Jack as if she was afraid that someone was going to pull her away at any moment. She shivered so violently that Jack embraced her just to try and steady her uncontrollable shaking.

"It's okay, it's alright." Jack said softly. "You can stay here."

"No...I...I don't feel safe here." She protested near hysteria. "Please is there somewhere safer we can go? I...I don't feel safe..."

Jack had a moment of indecision, knowing that he shouldn't bring a stranger onto the Base. On the other hand her story about Daniel was frighteningly plausible, and if it was true she might the only way to get him back.

"Yeah, I know a safe place." Jack admitted against his better judgment. "I'll take you there."

"T...thank you."

"Is..." Jack paused. "Is Daniel still alive?"

"Yes...at least I...I think so...but I'm not sure for how much longer." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "It's been...they've been tor...tortu..."

"I don't want to know." Jack interrupted. "What's your name?"

"Rea'beka."

"Rebecca...let's get you somewhere safe."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Sam had no idea what to expect as she made her way to the lower level VIP room. She'd just barely managed to fall asleep at home when her phone jarred her awake. Reaching over for it she'd mumbled something into it that she thought sounded vaguely like 'hello'.

"Carter?"

"Sir?"

"I need you to meet me at the Base."

"Wha...what's happening?"

"Let's just say it's a good thing I'm in charge theses days...'cause I'd have some serious explaining to do if I wasn't."

"I...I'll be right there."

Sam stepped off the elevator and started down the hall. Teal'c was standing outside the VIP room like a statue. He acknowledged her with a respectful bow. 

"Teal'c? Why are you standing out here?"

"My presence was proving to be disturbing." He answered honestly.

"Okay..." Sam replied confused.

Knowing that she could ask the Jaffa questions all night and be no better off Sam just made her way past him. Teal'c reached out and opened the door for her. Sam stepped into the room and froze. She hardly noticed as Teal'c closed the door behind her.

Jack was sitting on the couch with a woman that Sam didn't recognize sleeping next to him, using his lap as a makeshift pillow. She was wearing a pair of fatigues about three sizes too large. Jack looked up and an expression of relief washed over his face.

"She just fell asleep." Jack whispered.

"Who is she?" Carter asked softly.

"I haven't actually figured that part out yet." Jack admitted quietly. "She says her name is Rebecca."

"Um...okay. What is she doing here?"

"She might be able to help us find Daniel."

"What?" Carter said louder than she had meant to.

Jack felt the delicate creature sleeping on his lap jerk awake. She scrambled up and pressed herself into the corner of the couch. She looked around frantically, fighting for breath.

"Daniel?" She whimpered.

"No," Jack corrected gently "you're with us now...safe."

Rea'beka looked around uncertainly, but she seemed to compose herself. She looked up at Sam and smiled shyly. Sam did not return the gesture.

"Rebecca, this is Colonel Carter..."

"Sam," Rea'beka said with a smile "another friend of Daniel's. He spoke of you often...he failed to mention how beautiful you are."

"Umm..." Sam turned her attention back to Jack. "Sir? Shouldn't we get her down to medical..."

"No!" Rea'beka cried. "No tests, please...no tests."

"Okay, it's alright, calm down." Jack tried to assure her. "No one's going to hurt you."

Rea'beka crawled out of the corner of the couch and forced herself into a protective embrace with Jack. Clearly uncomfortably he looked to Sam for help, but she had no advice to offer. For the first time Sam noticed the red mark at the terrified woman's temple.

"She has a memory device mark." Sam noted. 

"I don't remember." Rea'beka sobbed. "I don't know what they wanted."

"She doesn't remember much," Jack pointed out needlessly "she's obviously been through a lot. She says Daniel helped her escape from some sort of medical facility."

"Where?"

"She's not sure."

"How did she know where to find you if she didn't even know wher..."

"No! Stop, you'll kill him!" Rea'beka suddenly interrupted frantically. Jack automatically restrained her as she went to lung off the couch. "Stop! Please!"

"Whoa, calm down." 

Rea'beka responded to Jack's voice immediately. Sam furrowed her brow in thought as the woman looked around at her surroundings as if seeing them for the first time. She seemed genuinely terrified. Jack looked to Sam again hoping she would suddenly have some answers. 

"I...I was back there." Rea'beka whispered in horror. 

"What?" Sam asked. 

"It was like I was there."

"You're not telepathically connected to Daniel are you?" Sam asked seriously.

"I don't know...I just felt like I was there again."

"Carter?" Jack asked in alarm.

"Maybe they're doing some kind of experiment with memory, telepathy, I don't know. What was happening, Rebecca?"

"They have this...this golden stone in their palm. T...they were hurting Daniel with it."

"Sounds like a Gou'ald hand device to me." Jack noted.

"That doesn't make sense." Sam countered. "Why would a Gou'ald do any of this?"

"What's a gould?"

"Bad guys." Jack replied. "Rebecca if we showed you one of these stone things, do you think you'd recognize it?"

"Sir?" Sam asked in alarm.

"Carter?"

"I...um...I was just wondering if that's a good idea." Sam clarified.

"If we are dealing with a Gou'ald I want to know." 

Sam wanted to argue further. There was something wrong with all of this. Jack was being too quick to trust this woman. At the same time it was the closest they'd come to any explanation of Daniel's disappearance. 

"I...I don't really remember," Rea'beka stuttered "I don't really remember what it looked like...but maybe if I saw it again."

"Carter, you still have one in your lab, right?"

"Yes, Sir." Sam nodded. "However it will take both our codes to get to it."

"Don't leave me here alone!" Rea'beka cried as Jack stood.

"You can come with us." Jack assured her.

Sam stared at Jack in shock, but clearly his mind was made up on this. Jack opened the door enough to ask Teal'c to please make sure that no one was in halls between them and Carter's lab. At this late hour the halls were mostly deserted anyway, however, Teal'c bowed and left to make sure. 

Rea'beka took Jack's hand like a child that didn't want to be lost in a crowd. Treating her accordingly Jack led her out into the hall. Sam looked around the now empty room and sighed.

"Does anyone else have a bad feeling about this?" 


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

General Denahe stared at the ornate lacquer box that sat on his desk. She had held up her end of the bargain, just as she said she would. He was relived to have her gone, however, he knew he wasn't in the clear yet. In all likelihood he never would be. 

A gentle knock at the door pulled his eyes away from the costly prize on his desk. A younger Colonel with a serious expression on his face let himself into the room. Denahe smiled, he hoped that one day this man could take over Area 51 for him, sooner rather than later if at all possible. The role of Area 51 had changed so much in the past few years and Denahe wasn't sure that he was still fit for the job.

"Sir." Colonel Stenson greeted respectfully. "We nee..."

"I know." Denahe interrupted. 

Denahe stood up and took the box off his desk. Walking over to the high security safe in the corner he placed the container on top of the confidential papers he kept there. Somewhere in the pile was the document that had started all of this. It had seemed like such a good idea on paper.

"I don't know what made me think this was going to be easy." Denahe muttered to himself. "I must be getting senile."

When Denahe went to leave the room Stenson followed wordlessly. They traveled together down the stairs and along the long hall. When they reached the door Stenson automatically swiped his card key and opened the door for his Superior Officer. 

Taking a deep breath Denahe stepped into the room. Daniel was laying on his side on the blood stained floor. His only sign of life was the laboured heaving of his chest as he fought for each breath. Denahe noticed with alarm that there was still a disk embedded in his temple. It turned his stomach to see the doctor treat the near priceless item like it meant nothing.

Denahe knelt down and reached out to remove the bloodied disk. It came free without effort. Daniel's eyes fluttered open. He trained his half focused blue eyes on Denahe briefly before they rolled back to white as he passed out again. 

"We need to figure out what we are going to do about him." Stenson said icily.

"I don't think there's anything we can do for him at this point." Denahe sighed.

"Sir, I didn't ask what we could do for him...I asked what we were going to do about him."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

"Teal'c, buddy, I hate to ask this of you." Jack said seriously. "But I really, really, really need some coffee."

Under any other circumstance Sam would have smiled at the look Teal'c gave Jack. She could see him seriously considering turning down such a mundane mission. He looked to Rea'beka for a moment, a dark icy look. Sam was relieved to see that she wasn't the only one who didn't trust this new woman. 

"Very well." Teal'c finally grumbled.

"Thank you, T, you're a life saver."

Sam was hoping that Jack would wait until Teal'c returned before stepping into her lab, however, he was obviously not interested in waiting. He lead Rea'beka into the lab and went directly to the medium sized safe that was against the back wall at counter height.

Jack unceremoniously punched his high level code into the safe's digital interface and then stood to the side to allow Carter to do the same. Sam looked around, trying to find a reason to stall. When she found none she fell back on her Air Force training.

Follow orders.

Stepping in between Jack and Rea'beka Sam tapped her code into the safe. The lights across the top of the screen flashed green and the locking mechanism made a heavy clunking sound. Sam reached inside and drew out the Gou'ald hand device that had once belonged to Apophis himself.

Rea'beka instantly reached out to touch the hand device. Carter drew back as if Rea'beka was a snake that had just struck at her. She hardened her light blue eyes into a steely look that left no room for misinterpretation: try that again there are going to be consequences. 

A slight smile flashed across Rea'beka's features that raised the hair on the back of Sam's neck. Before Sam's eyes Rea'beka's whole demeanor changed. Standing up straighter the paranoid fear suddenly vanished from her deep green eyes. Replaced by a look of dangerous confidence.

Sam instantly dropped one hand down to her hip to retrieve her sidearm, and instantly realized that she wasn't wearing it. Everything after that seemed to happen at once. Sam took a breath to warn Jack, Rea'beka rolled her eyes back to white, the Gou'ald device pulsed with a mind of its own, and then as far as Sam was concerned everything went black. 

"Carter!" 

Jack was just quick enough to catch her as she fell. The Gou'ald device clattered to the floor at Rea'beka's feet, she bent down calmly and picked it up. Jack didn't notice he was much to concerned with Carter's sudden feinting spell. Rea'beka slipped the hand device on and inspected it for a moment.

Jack laid Sam down on the cold lab floor as gently as he could. Pressing his fingers against her throat he found that her pulse was beat strong and steady. He ran his hand through her hair hoping to wake her. 

"What happened?" Jack asked Sam despite her condition.

"It's a self defense feature." Rea'beka replied. "She'll be fine in about half an hour."

Jack finally looked up at Rea'beka and suddenly saw what Carter had seen from the beginning: something dangerous. 

"You can't be a Gou'ald...Carter would have know."

"I'm not. The Gou'ald can only access a fraction of what the devices they stole are capable of."

Rea'beka stepped closer. Jack instantly took a protective stance over Sam. Rea'beka smiled sadly. 

"I'm not here to hurt her." Rea'beka reassured.

"Then put the fancy jewelry down and back off." Jack snarled. 

"I can't do that. However, if you help me I'll tell you where you can find Daniel."

"Help you?" Jack repeated incredulously. "I was helping you, and look where it's gotten me. You think for one second I'm going to trust you?"

"You trusted me before."

"That's when I thought you were human." Jack hissed. "Before you knocked one of my Officers out."

"I don't have time to argue about my tactics. Are you going to help me or not?"

Instead of answering Jack went to leap at Rea'beka, hoping to knock her down. She held up the hand device and pushed him back against the far wall without effort. Stepping over Carter she reached behind her ear and pulled a silver memory disks out from its hiding spot under her long hair. 

Jack got back to his feet and looked for anything that might work as weapon. Carter's lab was full of seemingly random equipment, but nothing that was particularly useful at the moment. As Rea'beka advanced on him he edged his way over to the base emergency button.

Through Daniel's memories Rea'beka knew exactly what Jack was doing. When he reached out to press the alarm she raised the hand device once more. Jack growled in frustration as an unseen force kept him from his goal. He turned a hateful glare on Rea'beka.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think it would come to this. I thought that Daniel would have everything that I needed. But he only had half the story, the other is locked in your blood memory."

"What the hell is a blood memory?"

"The memories that every Ancient is born knowing."

"Hey, I may be getting older," Jack protested "but I'm not an Ancient." 

"You have enough of their blood to use their weapons...you must have enough for this!" Rea'beka said desperately.

"What do you want?"

"I just want to save what is left of my people."

"At the expense of mine?!" Jack barked.

Rea'beka advanced on Jack once more and he backed away. Rea'beka stopped, she didn't dare get too close until she knew that he wasn't going to try and grab her. She didn't have time to waste knocking him out and waiting for him to recover. She looked down at Sam, still sleeping on the floor. 

"I will kill her if I have to." Rea'beka growled in frustration. 

When Jack didn't come closer she turned on Sam. Tears slipped down Rea'beka's face as she brought the Gou'ald device over Carter. The stone glowed a sickening yellow and Sam convulsed violently.

"No!" Jack cried. "Stop!"

"I'll slaughter everyone on this base," she snarled "unless you help me!" 

"Fine." Jack agreed in defeat. "Just, please, stop."

"I never wanted to kill anyone...honestly."

"What about Daniel? Is he still alive?"

"I...I don't know." Rea'beka admitted. "But I do know he'll never survive if you don't find him, and you'll never find him without my help."

"And clearly you need something from me."

"Exactly."

"Then I guess we'll have to come to some kind of agreement."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

"Jack O'Neil. Major, United States Air Force. Serial number 799-36-..."

Jack was cut short as a strong hand forced his head into a deep trough of ice water. Fighting against his captor was pointless, it just wasted precious oxygen. Trying to distract himself from being drown he purposely strained against the metal cuffs so that they'd cut into his skin. The pain proved to be an effective release, at least he was doing it to himself.

Jerked up out of the water Jack gasped for breath against burning lungs. He shook the ice out of his hair and spat a few times. The water was so cold it turned his stomach violently and lack of air had left him dizzy. Jack swallowed convulsively as his eyes watered with the effort it was taking not to retch.

"Alright, alright...the truth..." Jack sputtered. "My name's actually O'Neill, with two 'l's, not o..."

The frustrated interrogator back handed Jack hard against his temple. The watch he was wearing caught on Jack's brow and sliced it open. Blood poured from the deep cut down his face.

"That's my watch." Jack complained. "I'd like it back at some point."

A hard kick to the chest knocked Jack onto his back. He didn't even try to get up off the disgusting floor, he just braced himself against the inevitable follow up kick to the side. When they realized they weren't going to get any further today two guards hauled him to his feet. Removing the blood soaked cuffs they lead him away.

Every day for the past four months had been a repetition of the same thing with minor variations here and there. An Iraqis prison was not where Jack had expected to be left to die, but as time went by he was starting to think that he had little choice in the matter. Worse than being left behind enemy lines, it was starting to look like his country wasn't even going to come back for him.

Be that as it may Jack was determined to give them no more than the prerequisite Name, Rank, and Serial Number. He was hoping that eventually they'd lose interest in this particular list of useless facts.

The guards pushed Jack down the hall and out to the caged in exercise yard. He didn't particularly want to go, but that didn't seem to particularly matter. They opened the gate and shoved him out into the desert heat with the native inmates. Jack turned to face the gate again.

"Guys, if it's all the same to you, I think I've had quite enough exercise for one day. I'd really rather just go back to my cell, maybe read a bo..."

Jack was cut off as the guard spat at him through the gate.

"Thanks." Jack sighed.

He rubbed his face against his filthy shirt, which really didn't improve the condition of either of them. He could sense today's challenger stepping up behind him. The key was to win this first fight of the day. If he started to get the upper hand the guards would separate him and just take him back to his cell. If he started to lose the guards simply watched until he was rendered unconscious.

In no mood to be beaten senseless today Jack whipped around with his fist raised high. Before he even saw his opponent he struck him in the face with a satisfying crack and a spray of blood. The sudden uproar of the other inmates was deafening as they cheered at the start of the day's entertainment.

Blood gushed from the broken nose of the large man who had picked the wrong person to walk up to today. He bellowed in rage, lowered his head and rushed at Jack like a bull. Jack caught the guy by the shoulders, but he wasn't strong enough to stop the man's momentum. He slammed Jack into the iron gate to the approval of the crowd.

Pinned against the gate Jack had little options. He tried a few useless assaults on the larger man's back before he gave in and just bashed his head into the other man's. They were both a little stunned from the blow.

The instigator took a few awkward steps back. Seeing his chance Jack leapt at him and drove them both to the ground. On top, and with the advantage Jack went for the man's throat knowing that it would force the guards to stop the fight.

As soon as the guards stepped in Jack raised his hands peacefully. There was no fighting them, unless you were interested in spending a few days chained to a wall in the full heat of the desert sun. The guard that had lead him here in the first place unnecessarily slammed the end of his riffle into Jack's ribs. He gasped in pain as two of his ribs cracked audibly.

Unable to get up after the day's adventures two of the guards grabbed Jack by the upper arms and simply dragged him away. He tried several times to get to his feet on the long journey back to his cell. However he simply lacked the strength at the moment. Eventually they came to the barred door.

"Ah, yes, home sweet home." Jack tried to chuckle. "Thanks for the lift guys."

Wordlessly they left him face down on the floor. He waited until he heard the door slam closed before rolling over on to his back. Jack stared up at the ceiling for a moment, watching a large scorpion slowly making its way across.

"Hey, Ahet," Jack called to the man in the next cell over. "Is that one of those deadly scorpions?"

"No, my friend, just a common one."

"Shame." Jack sighed.

"Having a good day, American?" Ahet mocked lightly.

"I've had worse."

"That's the spirit."

Jack didn't bother to get up. The cot in the corner had an expansive family of roaches living in it that got very upset when he disturbed them. He'd just sleep on the floor. Exhausted he closed his eyes and in seconds he was out.

It was unclear to Jack if minutes or hours had passed, but he was suddenly woken by the sound of one of the guards grinding the key in the lock. Jack weld his eyes shut for a moment, trying to gather what was left of his will. He didn't take too long, he knew that if he didn't get up quickly enough they'd kick him. Gritting his teeth against the pain in his ribs Jack got to his feet and faced his visitors.

"Denahe?" Jack asked in shock.

"Is that anyway to address your Superior Officer, Airman?" Colonel Denahe snarled in mock anger.

"Sir, no, Sir!" Jack replied automatically. "I just wasn't expecting..."

"At ease, O'Neill." Denahe laughed. "Come on, Major, let's go home."

"Home?"

"Unless you'd like to stay here."

"No, Sir." Jack replied as he quickly stepped out of the cell. "Colonel Denahe, Sir, how did you pull this off?"

"It wasn't easy, I had to call in a lot of favours." Denahe answered seriously. "Especially since Cromwell swore that you were dead."

"Is that why he left me behind?" Jack growled darkly.

"Don't judge him too harshly, he did what he thought was right."

Jack kept his thoughts to himself, but couldn't imagine any time when it would be acceptable to leave a man behind. Denahe chuckled at Jack's sudden sullen demeanor. He threw his strong arm around Jack, who winced in pain. Together they started to make their way out of the dilapidated prison.

"By the way," Denahe smiled brightly "you owe me five hundred dollars."

"What for?"

"The bribe for your release."

"Nice to know that there's a nice round number out there that sums up the value of my life."

"Well they wanted a thousand, but I talked them down." Denahe laughed.

"What made you so sure that I was still alive?" Jack asked suddenly.

"You're nothing if not a survivor, Jack." Denahe answered seriously.

Jack was jerked back into reality as a sharp pain jabbed at his temple. Rea'beka was kneeling in front of him with a look of extreme concentration on her delicate features. He looked casually over to where Carter still lay sleeping. The only difference now was that she was not alone. Teal'c was also on the floor, next to a cool puddle of coffee.

"You and Daniel have the exact same problem." Rea'beka snarled suddenly. "It's so difficult to get beyond your sordid pasts."

"This is what you've been doing to Daniel." Jack sighed.

It wasn't a question, so Rea'beka didn't reply. She looked at the disk critically and adjusted it. Drained from the flashback Jack just glared at her spitefully.

"I should kill you." Jack growled.

"Daniel will die with me."

"He can't possibly be sane after nearly a month of this, he might be better off dead."

Afraid that Jack might turn on her Rea'beka snaked her hands into his hair, digging her nails into his skin. Rolling her eyes back she put a dangerous amount of concentration into the hand device. Jack gasped violently as his eyes snapped out of focus.

"At rek nas hesarit!" Jack snarled in Ancient.

"That's more like it..."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

"This is not your life we're talking about, Jack. It's your soul!" Daniel growled angrily. "This is it, what I'm offering you, Ascension, is your only way out!"

Jack looked around the featureless cell in Ba'al's fortress that he had been calling 'home'. It was odd suddenly having this ethereal Ascended version of Daniel around. He seemed so different from the man he'd known in life, and yet at the same time he was still just as infuriating to try and argue with as ever.

"You're wrong about that too." Jack replied. "I have another choice..."

"What are you talking about?" Daniel asked with a sad sigh.

Jack didn't reply, he just stared. He couldn't go through another torturous death only to be brought back again. However there was nothing he could do about. He knew that Ascension was not an option for him, and that only Daniel could help him with true death.

"No." Daniel shook his head as he suddenly understood.

"Any minute now they're going to come. Ba'al is going to kill me again. You can make it the last time."

"Don't ask me to do that."

"You can put an end to it."

"I won't do it." Daniel said stubbornly.

"I'd do it for you and you know it." Jack said seriously. "I don't want to see this cell again, Daniel."

Jack gave Daniel one last desperate look before the Jaffa came to take him to Ba'al to be tortured again. Daniel looked away and shook his head. For the briefest moment Jack despised Daniel more than Ba'al, more than anything.

"Sir, please, wake up...please!" A female voice suddenly pleaded. "Jack!"

The sound of Carter using his given name snapped him back. He looked up at her, trying to fully pull himself away from flashback. Carter had heartbreaking panicked look in her eyes and tears tracing freely down her cheeks. Without thinking Jack reached up and pulled her into a comforting embrace.

"A...are you okay, Sir?" Sam asked shakily.

Without answering Jack released her. With a gasp he leapt to his feet, and rushed over to Carter's drafting table. He grabbed a pen and started to write on a technical drawing Sam had been working on. When the pen proved to be dry Jack flung it aggressively across the room and snatched a pencil. Sam pulled the sleeve of her uniform across her face and once again demonstrated how quickly she could rein in her emotions.

Taking a cautious step closer Sam looked at what Jack was scribbling across her painstakingly done draft work. He scratched out a long sentence of short nonsensical words that looked vaguely familiar. When he was done he just stared at it pensively. 

"Is that Ancient?" Sam asked.

"Yes." Jack answered sullenly.

"What does it say?"

"I have no idea." 

"Teal'c went after 'Rebecca'..."

"He won't be able to stop her," Jack snarled in frustration "she's probably already through the Gate by now. Damn it!"

Jack snapped the pencil he was holding with one hand and threw the pieces across the room as well. Carter stayed motionless, unsure of how to deal with Jack's anger. He noticed her uneasiness and forced a smile. 

Walking up to her he took the bloody silver memory disk away from her and looked at it. Something else caught his attention and the disk slipped from his hand and fell to the floor. Sam automatically went to retrieve it, but Jack reached out and stopped her. 

"Carter..." Jack said slowly "did you write that?"

"Write what?"

Jack took Sam by the shoulders and turned her around to face the white board that was up on the wall behind her. 

"51...Nem." Sam read the large letters. "No. I had actually left an equation up there for reference. I don't even recognize the handwri..."

Sam was cut off as Jack suddenly lashed out at the delicate equipment that was resting innocently on the countertop next to them. With horrific noise of shattering glass and clanging metal he swiped a swath of equipment off the countertop in a fit of unbridled rage.

Carter surveyed the mess and roughly estimated that Jack had just caused about a hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth of damage. However she kept her mouth shut about it.

Jack stalked over to the phone and slammed a phone number into it. Sam just watched, not fully understanding his sudden outburst. She was still trying to recover from Jack's flashback as well, he had been screaming and talking to Daniel. Jack seemed to have forgotten the episode in his new found anger. He waited for the party at the other end of the line of pick up impatiently.

"Airfield 262." A voice answered.

"This is General O'Neill, have your fastest passenger plane ready in fifteen minutes flat." Jack growled through gritted teeth. 

"She'll be ready when you are. Sir."

"I also need clearance for flyover and landing at Groom Lake."

"That won't be as eas..."

"Do it!"

"Yes, Sir."

Jack hung up the phone and just barely managed to resist the urge to tear it from the wall. He raked his hands through his hair instead.

"Groom Lake?" Sam asked confused. "What's at Area 51?"

"Daniel."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

"Are you going to turn him away?" Stenson asked.

"This is Jack O'Neill we're talking about...one does not simply 'turn him away'." Denahe smiled sadly. "No, I will talk to him."

"And if he knows about Jackson?"

"He couldn't possibly, it's something even he couldn't imagine."

"But if he does?" Stenson insisted.

"You were only following orders, Stenson. Your career is safe."

"I was thinking more of your personal safety, Sir." Stenson replied seriously. "General O'Neill does not have a reputation for being a 'rational man'."

"I knew the risks."

"If we get ri..."

"No." Denahe growled darkly. "I am not signing a piece of paper to have Dr. Jackson murdered."

"That's an interesting place to draw the line, Sir." 

"Well that's where I'm drawing it!" Denahe snapped. "For better or worse I will deal with Jack, I owe him that much."

"Si..."

"Get out, you're dismissed."

"Yes, Sir." 


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

"Sir, you can't honestly believe Daniel's here." Carter protested in a harsh whisper as they followed two armed guards to Denahe's office.

"I do."

"You're going to accuse a Major General of kidnapping on nothing more than an alien's cryptic note?"

"I am."

"We're all going to be Court-martialed." Sam muttered.

"That's the idea."

The guards came to Denahe's door and were granted entrance. Jack, Sam, and Teal'c entered the modestly decorated office. Denahe sat behind his desk pretending to work on some paper. He looked up and forced a smile. He waved off the guards and they left without hesitation. 

"Jack, Colonel Carter, Teal'c." Denahe greeted. "Please, have a seat."

"I think we're more comfortable standing." Jack answered for the group.

Denahe searched Jack's face, and knew instantly that he at least suspected the truth. Despite a calm exterior Jack's eyes glittered with a cold hate. Still unsure of what he was going to say Denahe smiled sadly.

"Very well." Denahe conceded. 

"Do you know why I'm here?" Jack asked bluntly.

"You mentioned on the phone that you were looking for something in our inventory."

"Yeah." Jack replied casually. "About six feet, hundred and seventy pounds, blue eyes, brown hair. Recently add anything like that to your collection?"

"Ja..."

"Yes or no?!" Jack barked in sudden anger. 

Denahe didn't answer right away. He looked up at Daniel's friends and closed his eyes with a sigh. Unable to admit his sin out loud he just nodded.

Sam gasped audibly. She had honestly believed that Jack had lost it when he dragged them here. Area 51 was a lot of thing, but at its core it was still an Air Force Base.

"Is he alive?" Jack asked with a frightening calm.

"Barely." Denahe admitted.

Jack seemed to think this answer over for a moment. He put his hands on Denahe's desk and leaned forward. Denahe didn't back down an inch and the two old friends just stared at each other.

"How could you do this?" Jack asked in a low voice. "How could you take him? How could you look me in the eye and lie about it?"

"I had no choice."

Teal'c was just fast enough to grab Jack around the waist before he tried to launch himself over the desk. Jack fought against Teal'c, but he was held fast. Sam turned away, it was like a nightmare, too unreal to be true.

"I will nail you to the wall for this personally!" Jack cried. "I don't care who you are! I don't care what the stakes were! You had no right to do this!"

"I had authority from the President to carry this out."

"I don't care if God Himself told you to do it! I did not devote my life to the Air Force to become part of an origination that turns on its own!"

Denahe took a breath to respond.

"If you utter one word about Daniel not holding official rank, I will make it your last!" Jack roared. "I know plenty of good planets to hide the body on!"

"That's your problem, Jack!" Denahe hissed back. "You've been looking through your telescope for too long. You've forgotten to pull your face away from the stars and look at the world around you! I don't know if you've noticed but this country is being picked apart by Terrorists! You're out starting Intergalactic battles while we're still fighting International ones!"

"What did she offer you in return?" Jack snarled. "What weapon could have possibly been worth Daniel's life? What did this country gain from handing over one of its own citizens to be tortured?!"

"I'm sorry, Jack, that's classified."

Teal'c had to tighten his grip on Jack to keep him restrained. It didn't occur to Jack through his anger that all he had to do was order the Jaffa to release him. Teal'c would gladly kill Denahe if asked to, however he could not allow his friend to become a murderer.

"The disk." Sam whispered.

Everyone paused and looked to her.

"That's what she gave him." She continued. "That memory disk it wasn't exactly Gou'ald, it was certainly more powerful. Something they could use to interrogate suspected terrorists with. The Gou'ald disks take at least some amount of willingness on the part of the wearer...these one take memories against a person's will."

Jack stopped struggling against Teal'c. He closed his eyes and rubbed at his temples.

"Jack..." Denahe started.

"No...I can't hear anymore." Jack sighed in defeat. "Just take me to Daniel, I'll deal with you later."

"Jack there's no point...he's dying."

"At least he can die among friends rather than locked up like some animal!"

"He won't know the difference."

"I don't care!" 

"Please, Jack, trust me, you don't want to see him like this." Denahe insisted.

"What do you mean exactly by 'like this'? What the hell have you done to him?!"

"Something I'll regret for the rest of my life." 

Denahe got up and went to the door. Teal'c finally released his captive and the four of them made their way downstairs. At the door Denahe paused, but he eventually took out his key card and unlocked it. He opened the door and stood to the side. Jack grit his teeth and stepped through.

Daniel was sitting cross-legged with his attention directed at the floor in front of him. His wrists and temple had been carefully bandaged. Even in the large scrubs he wore the drastic weight loss was painfully obvious. He didn't look up at his visitors, he just studied the floor intently. 

Jack walked up slowly and knelt down in front of him. He reached out and waved his hand in front of Daniel's unfocused eyes, but he still didn't look up. 

"Do you know what your problem is, Jack?" Daniel asked suddenly.

"W...what? Da..."

"Your problem is that you never plan ahead." Daniel chuckled. He reached out and picked up some imaginary object at Jack's feet and moved it.

"Daniel?" 

"Check." Daniel replied vacantly.

"Daniel?" Jack asked again in concerned. "Daniel, look at me."

"He can't." Denahe said solemnly. "He has no idea that you're here, he doesn't even know that he's here."

"What?"

"H..he's stuck," Sam whispered in horror "in his own past."

"We've tried to reverse it, I swear. Nothing works."

"What did I just say about planning ahead?" Daniel mocked lightly.

"His health is quickly deteriorating under the stress of it." Denahe continued. "At this rate he has a week, maybe less. I...I couldn't bring myself to have him euthanized like an unwanted dog. Jack, I promise you, his sacrifice is going to save the lives of thousands...it might even end this war."

Jack stared at Daniel, barely even hearing Denahe's words. Daniel brought his gaze back down to the floor with a look of concentration. Once again he lifted something up that wasn't there. After a moment's thought he put it down gently. Jack closed his eyes and dragged his hands through his hair. Looking up at no one Daniel smiled brightly. 

"Checkmate."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-one

"Teal'c, in case I don't ever get the chance to say this...If you hadn't come back for me, I would have been stuck in that place forever. So...thank you."

Jack sat on the padded floor of medical containment room watching Daniel pace and talk to no one. They had brought him back to the SGC, but were forced to cage him the same way Area 51 had to keep him from hurting himself. 

It was difficult to watch, but Jack had stayed with Daniel all night. Carter and Teal'c were off world with SG-8 to the address that Rea'beka had jumped to. Keeping Daniel company, even if he didn't notice, was the only thing Jack could think to do.

"Yes!" Daniel said in sudden excitement. "Yes, it, it's me it's Daniel. I'm right here, just don't walk...through me." Daniel paused his pacing and sighed. "It's very disconcerting."

Jack was quickly becoming skilled at figuring out where Daniel thought he was. From what he'd been saying and doing he guessed that at the moment Daniel was stuck 'out of phase', trying to get Teal'c's attention. In between one world and another Daniel had roamed the SGC as a specter for days before they figured it out.

"You sensed I was in the room, you just can't see or hear me." Daniel continued in a defeated tone. "Which is a little frustrating as you may imagine."

"It's extremely frustrating." Jack agreed.

There was a gentle knocking at the door that Jack ignored. He knew who ever it was would enter anyway. The door opened and Dr. Brightman peeked inside. 

"General?" Dr. Brightman asked softly.

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk in your office?"

"Yeah."

Jack watched Daniel for a few more moments before getting up. Daniel paced about as if frustrated, which was understandable. Despite the fact that he clearly didn't know where he was he still seemed to know the limitations of his new prison. He moved violently at times, but so far he'd yet to run into the walls. 

Standing up Jack purposefully moved directly into Daniel's path. Without pause Daniel walked around him and continued to pace. He looked as though he was trying to get somewhere, and he wasn't going to let Jack stand in the way.

"How does he do that?" Jack asked.

"It's hard to say. However, sleepwalkers don't bump into things either. Part of him must be aware that you're there."

Jack thought about that for a moment, but didn't find any comfort in it. Dr. Brightman left the room and he followed. As they made their way to Jack's office they ran into Sam coming the other way. She had just returned, she hadn't even changed into her base uniform yet. 

"Any luck?" Jack asked.

"No, Sir." Sam admitted.

"Anything at all?"

"Well, I'm sure I don't have to tell you this, but Rebecca wasn't stupid."

"You're right, you didn't have to tell me that."

"The point is, Sir, that she knew our computers would know where she was going. So she jumped to an uninhabited planet and from there..."

"She could have gone anywhere." Jack finished.

"Exactly. Right now I think the best chance we have of finding her is to try and translate that sentence you wrote."

"That's really Daniel's thing." Jack forced a smile. 

"I thought I'd try using his notes as a reference."

"Good idea." Jack replied halfheartedly. "Speaking of Daniel, the doc here is about to give her 'good news, bad news' shtick, you're welcome to join us." 

Carter was actually anxious to get to work on the translation, however she could see that Jack really didn't want to listen to Dr. Brightman alone. Sam nodded and Jack managed a genuine smile. 

The three of them stepped into Jack's office. He wandered over to his desk and sat down at it. He looked briefly at the large amount of paper that had started to accumulate on it. He pushed it all to one side and actively ignored it.

Sam and Dr. Brightman took seats on the opposite side of the desk. The doctor had a large file with her that she placed on Jack's desk. He picked it up, glanced at its contents and put it back down.

"These numbers don't mean anything to me." Jack said bluntly. "Just tell me what it says using as many small words as possible."

"Well, on the physical side of things Dr. Jackson's lost about 90 of what little body fat he had, along with about 25 muscle mass. Which in turn has lead to both liver and kidney distress. His blood work is, in all honesty...a mess."

"A mess?" Jack repeated. "Is that a technical term?"

"You asked for small words, Sir." Carter pointed out.

"True. I'm sorry, continue."

"A highly elevated white cell count coupled with prolonged dehydration and an iron deficiency is making it difficult to stabilize his homeostatic balance. All in all I'd say kidney failure is the greatest danger, probably within the next few days."

"He can have one of mine." Jack offered.

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way."

"Perhaps we should have started with the good news." Jack sighed. He rubbed at his temples, trying to fight off a migraine.

"Um...that was the good news, Sir." Dr. Brightman admitted. 

"Of course it was." Jack grumbled.

"He could easily recover physically, we have the medicine and the technology for that. What we don't have is a way to fix this mental looping he's trapped in."

"If he can be fixed physically why does everyone keep telling me he's dying."

"The mental strain is the cause of his physical decline and we can only battle against it for so long. It's like trying to fill a sieve with water, if you don't do something about the holes you're not going to get anywhere. If his health hadn't been allowed to slip this far we'd have less of a problem on our hands time wise."

Sam watched Jack struggle with a flash of anger. So far no action had been taken against Denahe or Area 51. She knew Jack wasn't pursing it personally at the moment because saving Daniel's life was more important than seeking revenge. However she feared what Jack might do if Daniel didn't pull through. As it was she was still questioning her own loyalties to the Air Force, something she'd never done before.

"Any thoughts on what can be done?" Jack asked wearily.

"It's risky, but my first thought is to try convulsive therapy."

"Con-what now?" Jack asked.

"Electro-shock therapy." Sam clarified.

"No." Jack said quickly. "No way." 

"Gen..." Dr. Brightman started.

"Forget it!" Jack interrupted. "Daniel hates electricity, you rub your feet across a carpet and touch him, he jumps ten feet."

"Convulsive therapy is not the barbaric practice that it used to be." Dr. Brightman replied calmly. "He'd be fully sedated, and there is no pain. It is a trusted treatment, perhaps not for this particular problem, however, I'm hoping that a controlled seizure might 'reset' his consciousness."

"'Hoping' and 'might' are two words I don't like hearing you say doctor."

"There are no guarantees with this sort of case. I'm sorry."

"What are the possible consequences?" Sam asked.

"It could simply do nothing, or there is a chance that it could make things worse."

"Worse how?" Jack grumbled.

"His body has been taxed physically to the extreme...a seizure, even a controlled one, could kill him."

For a moment Jack had an expression similar to Daniel's, out of focus, lost in thought. He shook his head. Inducing Daniel into a seizure didn't sound like medicine to him. Dr. Brightman waited patiently for a response, but it didn't seem like she was going to get one.

"Are there any other options?" Sam broke the silence.

"There are two. Neither of which I recommend as a first course of action."

"We might as well hear them." Jack sighed.

"The first of course is to do nothing, wait it out, and hope that Dr. Jackson recovers his senses on his own before his body fails. I give that a less than one percent chance of working in time."

"And the second?"

"Surgery." Dr. Brightman admitted. "Physically sever the connection between the frontal lobes and the temporal memory cortex. At best he'd have no past memory, but at least he'd be able to interact with his environment again."

"At worst?"

"He might not be able to remember anything ever again."

"What do you mean by that?"

"In addition to losing past memories if everything wasn't done perfectly he might not be able to store new ones. Again, he could interact with his environment, but if you left the room for five minutes and came back, he wouldn't remember you."

"Suddenly electrocuting him doesn't sound like such a bad option." Jack sighed.

"Since Dr. Jackson has no family, and is incapable of making the decision himself, it's your call, Sir." Dr. Brightman said seriously. "My strongest recommendation is to try convulsive therapy."

"Do it."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-two

"Daniel Melburn Jackson." Sam growled in frustration like a mother scolding a child. "How is anyone supposed to find anything in here?"

She looked around the hopeless mess that was Daniel's office. She was sure that in his own mind there was perfect order to every book and scrap of paper. However, her Type A brain couldn't find method in the maddening chaos. There were so many books, and since a majority of them were handwritten they had no hints on their covers as to what lay inside.

After another three hours of combing through the journals and reference books she finally came across a group of them that had Ancient text inside. She gathered up five of them at random and took them over to Daniel's desk. 

After sitting down Sam decided that she didn't feel comfortable trying to do the translation in Daniel's office. Gathering up the books she noticed a journal with a deep blue leather cover sitting on the corner of the desk. For no other reason than the fact that she liked the colour Sam added the book to her collection.

Stepping into her lab Sam was painfully reminded of the mess that Jack had made. Trying her hardest to ignore the broken metal and glass she walked over to the drafting table and set the books down. 

Jack's original writing was still on the technical drawing. She studied it for a moment. There were fifteen words, two of which were repeats of one another. Opening a dark brown journal Sam instantly found what could prove to be an insurmountable obstacle to her attempts at translation.

Jack had written out the Ancient sentence phonetically, where as all of Daniel's notes were written in actual Ancient text. Flipping through three of the other books she found no hints on how to pronounce any of it.

"Great." Sam sighed.

Sam put down the book and started to leaf through the blue book she had taken. Quickly realizing that it was a personal journal she put it down. Rubbing at her tired eyes she looked up and stared at Rea'beka's handwriting that was still on the whiteboard.

"51...Nem." Sam read out loud. "What does 'Nem' mean?"

It sounded irritatingly familiar, but near physical collapse from exhaustion Sam couldn't quite grasp its meaning. Knowing that she wasn't going to get anywhere tonight Sam got up to leave. Her eye caught a quick glint of silver. She knelt down and picked up the memory device that had been left where it had fallen. 

Sam glanced back at the safe and found it to be closed. She contemplated her options for a moment and decided that at the moment the best thing was to just keep the disk in her pocket. 

Standing back up Sam looked down at her watch and realized that she had been awake for nearly twenty four hours. She desperately needed some sleep, however, she decided to visit Daniel before seeking out one of the VIP rooms.

They were going to be trying the convulsive therapy in the morning. Despite trusting Dr. Brightman, Sam was nervous about the possible consequences. She made her way downstairs and used her key card to open the door. 

Sam stepped into the room and smiled sadly. Teal'c was sitting in the corner with his head resting on his chest. Jack was lying on his side using his arm as a pillow. Both men were locked in a deep sleep. 

Daniel was laying on his stomach, propped up on his elbows. His eye were once again concentrating on the floor, tracking back and forth. He reached out and turned the page of a book that only he could see. Sam stepped up to him and to her surprise he looked up at her. 

"Bed time already?" Daniel asked as he rolled his eyes.

"Daniel?"

For a moment Sam thought he was actually going to respond. However he just looked down at his illusionary book, marked the page, and closed it. Getting up he carried the book across the room and placed it on what Sam assumed was a shelf. 

Sam just watched the pantomime helplessly. Daniel turned around and made his way towards her. Sam went to step out of his way when he suddenly wrapped his arms around her in an affectionate bear hug. He released her and gave her cheek a quick kiss.

"Nite, Mom."

Tears slipped from Sam's tired eyes as she watched Daniel curl up on the floor. If anything he looked more peaceful than she could ever remember seeing him. Sam knelt down and gently kissed his brow above the bruising at his temple.

"Good night, Daniel." Sam whispered. "Get some sleep...tomorrow's a big day."

Daniel smiled without opening his eyes and in moments his breathing slowed in sleep. She looked around at the team laying serenely on the floor like a pack of wolves in a den. Too tired to do anything else Sam joined them.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-three

_"Oh my God! Colonel...we left him behind! Left him behind!"_

Carter sat bolt upright from a restless sleep. She looked around for a moment trying to get her bearings. The last thing she recalled was falling asleep on the floor with the others. However someone had since moved her to a bed in one of the VIP rooms. 

For a moment Sam brought her thoughts back to the nightmare she'd woken from. However, she could only recall that she'd had one, not what it was about. Despite everything she rarely had nightmares and something in the back of her mind was trying to tell her that this one had been important somehow.

Any hope she had of recalling it was instantly lost when she looked up at the clock. Sam struggled with the tangle of blankets that surrounded her. She freed herself and scrambled out of bed. She was relieved to notice that she was still fully clothed, more out of a sense of time urgency than modesty.

Daniel had been scheduled for therapy at eight and it was now half past ten. She stepped out into the hall and took a moment to figure out where on the base she was. Once oriented she took the stairs down, not wanting to wait for the elevator. 

Coming to Daniel's room she slid her key card in the lock and opened the door carefully. Jack and Daniel were sitting on the floor a few feet apart, facing one another. Jack turned see who had stepped into the room.

"Good morning." Jack greeted halfheartedly.

"Where's Teal'c?" Sam asked automatically.

"He asked to go back to the planet that Rebecca fled to. I saw no harm in letting him go."

"Did Dr. Brightman try the therapy yet?"

"Yeah." Jack sighed.

"Any improvement at all?"

"That would depend on your definition of 'improvement'." Jack replied wearily. 

"Checkmate." Daniel said casually. "I should have done that two moves ago...I don't know what I was thinking."

"He's still trapped." Sam sighed.

"Yeah," Jack forced a smile "but now you can change the channel."

"What?" Sam asked confused.

"I don't feel off...I feel fine." Daniel said in a tone of surprise. "No headaches, no tension. I feel...normal."

Jack got up and helped Daniel do the same. He lead him over to the nearest wall, stopping him a few feet away from it. Jack reached out and patted his hand against the soft white wall.

"Daniel." Jack said in an attention getting voice. "Can you translate this?"

"Well...it might not be so easy." Daniel replied as he started to run his hand over the blank wall. "I'm going to have to go back to Earth for a reference."

"Never mind that." Jack lead Daniel back to the middle of the room and guided him to sit back down. "How about a game of chess?"

"Sure...might help me keep my mind off of things." Daniel replied and started to set up the pieces. 

Jack left Daniel to his game of chess and stepped up to Sam. She watched Daniel with her eyebrows furrowed in thought. He set the pieces and then waited patiently for Jack to start the game before making a move of his own.

"I don't understand." Sam admited.

"If you say something to him that reminds him of something he'll go there." Jack explained. "So...I guess that's an improvement, of sorts."

Sam didn't really see it as any kind of an improvement. Daniel still had that far off glazed look in his eyes as he toyed with the imaginary chess pieces. Jack pulled Sam out of her thoughts by putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Carter?"

"I'm sorry, you asked me a question, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Any luck with the translation last night?" Jack repeated.

"No." Sam admitted. "Although I did come across something I'd forgotten about. Does 'Nem' mean anything to you?"

"Nem...um...no." Jack replied. "Why?"

"Rebecca wrote that on the board after '51'."

"So?"

"So, it must mean something." Sam pointed out. "She must have been trying to tell us something."

"Carter, I don't really care." Jack said bluntly. "I just want to get Daniel back. Dr. Brightman is now starting to push for surgery."

"I...I thought she said it was too risky."

"It is, but she's run out of options. But it doesn't matter...I've already said 'no'."

"We're just going to let him die?" Sam asked in horror.

"I'm certainly not going to let them carve up Daniel's mind so that he can spend the next forty years of his life in this box not knowing who he is, or who his friends are." Jack snarled angrily. "Personally I'd chose death...wouldn't you?"

Sam thought about it for a moment and nodded in agreement. Her consensus didn't seem to make Jack feel any better about his decision. He dragged his hands through his hair and started pacing. Figuring there could be no harm in trying Sam knelt down in front of Daniel to ask him about Rea'beka's note.

"Daniel?" Sam asked. "Daniel, what does 'Nem' mean?"

Daniel froze in the middle of his chess game. He looked around and then glared at Sam angrily. 

"I want to see my friends." Daniel demanded. "I'm not...I'm not going to translate another word of this until yo..."

"Daniel," Sam interrupted "listen to me, your friends are right here. I just want to know what 'Nem' means."

Daniel's expression of anger degraded quickly into one of fear. Concerned Sam reached out to calm him, however he cowered away from her.

"I don't know what you want me to do!" Daniel cried desperately. "I don't understand!"

Daniel looked as though he expected Sam to rip his heart out at any moment. He was suddenly breathing hard, with the look of a cornered animal in his eyes.

"Carter, this isn't helping." Jack sighed. "It's just upsetting him. He's obviously afraid."

"Yes," Daniel agreed softly "I'm afraid that you're asking the impossible of me and you will not allow me to return home."

"Sir, I think it's important that we figure out what memory the word 'Nem' sparks."

"Why?"

"I think Rebecca left it as a clue to help him, after all she lead us to him at Area 51. Why else would she leave more in the note? Why would she let us know where he was, but not how to help him?"

"Spite?" Jack offered.

When Sam didn't have a response Jack stepped between her and Daniel. He knelt down and put his hand on Daniel's shoulder, hoping to pull him out of the distressing memory. Daniel pulled away from Jack's touch violently.

"Where are my friends? Are they alive? Are they here?" Daniel asked angrily. "I demand that I be allowed to speak to them!"

"Daniel calm down..." Jack started.

"No!" Daniel snarled. "No, they would not leave without me!"

"Left him behind..." Sam whispered to herself, remembering her nightmare.

It was on the tip of her tongue, she just couldn't quite remember. She knew the answer was here, she just needed more time to figure it out. There was something here, she was so sure of it. It was just so difficult to piece together one side of a conversation that she'd obviously hadn't been present for.

"I don't have four thousand years." Daniel said in defeat. "Maybe you can afford to search all of that time, but I can't."

The mention of four thousand years stung Sam's memory, but it wasn't helping her determine where Daniel was, or why it mattered. Still sitting on the floor Daniel started to pant in pain.

"Daniel?" Jack asked in concern.

"Omoroca..." Daniel said as though trying to remember something himself. His breathing became increasingly laboured. "Omoroca..."

"Daniel," Jack said sternly. "Snap out of it!"

"I can't!" Daniel cried out and then screamed in agony. "I can't!"

"Daniel!" 

"One of the beings called Oannes...Omoroca!" Daniel continued.

Daniel was fighting for every breath and just kept babbling nonsense. He suddenly arched his back violently, forcing Jack pin him to the floor to keep him from hurting himself. As quickly as it had started it seemed to end. Daniel was still painting, but he relaxed.

"I...I'm sorry..." Daniel gasped. "That's all I ever knew...I swear. I'm sorry...he was a Gou'ald..."

"It's alright, Da..."

"We have to get to the water!" Sam suddenly screamed.

Jack nearly jumped out of his skin. In his concern for Daniel he hadn't noticed what Sam was doing. He turned his attention away from Daniel and for a moment he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Carter?!" Jack yelled. 

"Oh my God!" Sam cried breathlessly. "Colonel...we left him behind! Left him behind!"

Sam was on her knees with tears streaming down her panicked face. Jack rushed over and ripped the silver memory disk away from her temple. She gasped violently and looked around frantically. Despite only a brief encounter with the disk she seemed on the verge of collapse.

"Carter? You alright?"

Sam just nodded. She had taken the disk out of her pocket and used it before she could lose her nerve. 

"Wha...what the hell were you thinking?!"

"Nem...Omoroca...I remember...I know who he is." Sam whispered. 

"He?"

"Nem, h..he can help us...he can help Daniel..."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-four

Jack sat cross-legged on one of the infirmary beds in the depths of the SGC. In the next bed over Daniel slept peacefully on his back, a saline IV slowly dripping fluid into his thirsty blood. 

They had taken him to Nem and the ancient sea creature had been more than willing to try and help. They'd spent hours in the cold underwater lab. For his part Daniel stayed locked in a sleep that bordered on coma.

Eventually Nem announced that he had done all he could, and that only time would tell if he had done more good than harm. When Daniel started having trouble breathing they made the decision to take him back to Earth where Dr. Brightman could better monitor him.

Daniel had stabilized, but he would not wake. Jack glanced over at the clock and noticed that once again it was reaching an absurdly early hour. He had ordered Sam and Teal'c to get some sleep several hours ago, promising to wake them if there was any change. 

Rubbing his eyes Jack started to think about following his own advice. There was a night nurse near by that would wake him if needed. He had just decided to lay down when Daniel groaned. Jack sat up straight, suddenly wide awake. Daniel opened his eyes and briefly looked in Jack's direction.

Without a word Daniel went to turn on his side away from Jack. The thin tube of the IV in the back of his hand caught on the stand. With a growl of irritation he reached down, ripped it out, and threw it to the floor. Free of the IV he rolled onto his side, made himself comfortable, and seemed to go back to sleep. 

"Daniel?" Jack asked hesitantly after a moment.

Daniel slowly rolled over on to his back again. He looked over at Jack and furrowed his brow in obvious confusion.

"Jack?" Daniel asked slowly.

"Yes."

"W...what are you doing in my bedro..." Daniel paused and looked around. "...or rather what am I doing here?"

"Where do you think here is?" 

"The SGC." Daniel replied instantly. He sat up and took his bearings again. "Jack, why am I here?"

"You don't remember any of it, do you?" 

"Remember what?" Daniel asked in alarm. "What the hell is going on?"

Daniel didn't give Jack a chance to answer. He threw off the light blanket and went to get off the far side of the bed.

"Daniel, that's not a good ide..."

Jack wasn't able to get around the bed in time and Daniel fell to his hands and knees. Coming around the bed Jack offered Daniel his hand to help him back up. Daniel accepted it and pulled himself up on his feet. He took a few moments to find his balance before standing on his own. 

"Jack, what's happened to me?"

"I don't really know," Jack admitted "I think it's safe to say 'a lot'."

Daniel managed a slight smile. He pulled his hand through his hair and instantly noticed that it was longer than it should be. Touching the side of his temple he winced in pain at the bruising.

"You should really lay back down." Jack suggested.

Daniel just shook his head. Looking around again he noticed someone else in the room. Stepping past Jack he walked up to the apparition. Daniel reached out and touched the mirror, as if trying to determine if the reflection was truly his own. 

Having been alerted by the night nurse Dr. Brightman walked into the room in her white lab coat. Daniel caught her reflection in the corner of his eye. He whipped around and jerked backed into the mirror hard enough to crack it.

"Da..." Jack started.

"Stay away from me!" Daniel cried out in terror. "Jack! Help me, don't let them drug me again! Please, Jack, I can't go through it again...I can't keep reliving everything..."

Seeing that she was upsetting the very person she was trying to help Dr. Brightman stepped away. With his eyes still locked on the doctor Daniel backed himself into the corner. Jack noticed with alarm that he was starting to lose focus again. He signaled for Dr. Brightman to leave and she heeded the order.

"Daniel, stay with me, calm down." Jack said softly as he slowly stepped closer "I'm not going to let anyone drug you. You're safe here."

Daniel didn't seem comforted by Jack's words, however, he let his friend approach. Jack put his hand on Daniel's shoulder causing him to gasp like he was waking from a dream. He reached out and touched the mark on the side of Jack's temple left by the disk.

"She came after you too...I remember." Daniel said in horrified whisper. "Oh my God, I...I remember everything...we have to find her."

"Daniel, let's not worry about that right now."

"What did she want from you?" Daniel insisted. "What did you tell her?"

"I don't know. Calm do..."

"You're lying." Daniel accused. "She...she needed a Gate Address...something I only knew part of...you must know the rest. Where did you send her?"

"Nowhere. Dan.."

"She must have learned something from you or she'd still be here, and I'd still be locked up in some nightmare!" Daniel snarled. 

Jack sighed in defeat. He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He'd kept a copy of what he'd written in case for some strange reason it suddenly might make sense to him. He handed the note to Daniel who read it quickly.

"Jack...this is an Address."

"What?"

"These are the phonetic representations of the Symbols on the Stargate." Daniel explained. "Remember you gave them to me after the second time you used the Ancient Repository."

"I don't remember much from that time...it's kind of like the 70's in that way."

Daniel looked around frantically. When he spotted a white board he walked over to it purposefully. The board had the various nurses' schedules written on it. Using is hand Daniel cleaned the board. Picking up a blue marker he quickly wrote out the fifteen Symbols.

"But there are too many of them." Jack pointed out.

"It's two Addresses." Daniel drew a slash after the first seven symbols.

"That still leave one Symbol too many."

"Not if the second Address links to a different Galaxy..."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-five

"Does anyone have a safety-pin?" Daniel asked plaintively.

"You know, Danny, it's all the rage to wear baggy pants these days." Jack mocked.

"Yeah, well, maybe if I was fifteen years younger."

Carter smiled and riffled through her first aid kit until she came across a pin. She handed it to him.

"Thank you." Daniel said gratefully.

While Daniel worked on resizing his uniform Sam looked around the stunted forest that surrounded the Gate. Daniel had insisted that they return to the planet that they'd found him on after taking on human form again. 

Dr. Brightman's vehement protesting had done nothing to dissuade him, and as far as Sam could remember Jack had never actually agreed to this trip. Yet, somehow Daniel had managed to talk them into it. 

"Daniel," Jack said casually "remind me why we're here?"

"I already told you," Daniel muttered as he secured the pin "this is the point of Origin."

"Ah, yeah, right, you said that. What does it mean?"

Daniel looked up sharply at Jack with a 'you've-got-to-be-kidding-me' expression on his face. 

"Sir, each Address is connected to a point of Origin." Sam explained.

"I know that." Jack replied irritated. "What I don't understand is why we couldn't just substitute in Earth's symbol for the last Chevron and jump there directly from Earth."

"No, the Address you gave Rebecca can only be dialed out on this planet." Daniel replied.

"Apparently, but 'why'?"

"Because this DHD has a Symbol on it that you won't find on any others."

Daniel reached out and tapped lightly on one of the Symbols on the DHD. Jack looked at it. It looked pretty much like any of the others, but he had to admit that he didn't immediately recognize it.

"How did you know that it would be here?" Sam asked.

"I didn't until we got here." Daniel admitted.

"Then what made you want to come here?" Jack asked.

"I don't know."

"How did you even translate that Symbol if you'd never seen it anywhere else?" Jack asked instead.

"I'm not sure."

Jack was about to ask another pointless question when he noticed that Teal'c suddenly tensed and raise his staff weapon slightly. Turning around Jack saw that Shamda, the native that had original discovered Daniel, was approaching them. Daniel turned and noticed as well.

"Shamda." Daniel greeted.

"Arrom!" Shamda said enthusiastically, using the name he'd given him. "I was beginning to think you had forgotten about your 'birth place'."

"Never."

Shamda threw his arm around Daniel's shoulders and started to lead him off towards the village they had built into the planet's ruins. Daniel asked Shamda something in the man's native tongue and he began to reply at length. Watching them walk off Jack made a noise of frustration. 

"We wanted the old Daniel back," Sam chuckled "we got him." 

"Next time I'll have to be more careful about what I wish for." 


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-six

"You look terrible, my friend." Shamda said bluntly.

"Thanks." Daniel smiled.

"What brings you back to us?"

Shamda offered the members of the team a murky looking liquor. They all politely turned down the offer. Shamda shrugged and poured a glass of it anyway. He offered the drink to Daniel once more, recalling that he used to like it. Daniel refused again, the mere scent of the stuff was making him nauseous.

"I need to know if anyone has come through the Stargate in the past few days."

"Yes, a woman." Shamda nodded. "Rea'beka."

"Rebecca?" Daniel repeated.

"Rea'beka." Shamda corrected.

"Did she want anything from you?" Daniel asked.

"The same thing you wanted." Shamda chuckled. "Some clothes."

"What?" Jack asked without thinking.

Shamda got up and went to a pile of various cloth in the corner of the tent. He lifted up a pair of dark green fatigues. Jack took them and riffled through the pockets, but he found nothing. 

"They didn't fit, or suite, her very well at all." Shamda explained.

"Was she..." Jack paused "was she wearing anything on her hand?"

"She wore an odd gold bracelet with the stone on the wrong side of her hand."

"What?!" Daniel asked in shock. He turned to Jack. "You gave her a hand device?"

"I didn't give it to her...Carter did."

"Me?" Sam said indignantly. 

"Look, it doesn't matter how she got it." Jack said dismissively. "The point is that she has it, and that makes her dangerous."

"I'm starting to question that." Daniel mused.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm starting to question if she's actually dangerous, or if she's misled, or having her hand forced." 

"Daniel, she tried to kill you." 

"But she didn't." Daniel pointed out. "She let me go."

"Completely insane." Jack countered.

"I don't think she wanted that."

"Daniel may have a point, Sir." Sam added. "If it hadn't been for her help I don't think he would have survived."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing." Jack growled. "Teal'c, buddy, you're still on my side, right?"

"This Rea'beka can not be trusted." Teal'c agreed.

"I didn't say she had to be trusted." Daniel said exasperated. "I just meant that we might want to hold off on shooting her on sight."

"Then why are we going after her?" Jack asked bluntly.

"Because something tells me that whatever she's trying to do she's in over her head."

"And we're not?" Jack protested.

"Just trust me, Jack. We have to find her."

For a moment nothing was said. Shamda looked back and forth between the two men and then poured himself another drink. Jack searched Daniel's expression and furrowed his graying brow in thought.

"Daniel..." Jack said slowly "you don't have the weird victim disorder, do you?"

"What?"

"Stockholm Syndrome." Carter provided. 

"No." Daniel said quickly. "Don't be absurd, Jack."

"Am I?" Jack asked seriously.

"Who is this Stockholm?" Teal'c asked.

"It's when a victim falls in love with their abuser." Daniel explained. "But trust me, this isn't the case. She barely said a dozen words to me, most of the time I was just lost in my own mind."

"Then why are we chasing after her?" Jack asked again. "If she's in trouble: who cares?"

"Any place that takes ripping open the minds of an Ascended and an Ancient descendant to find is worth going to." Daniel snarled. 

Silence fell over everyone once again. Jack thought about what Daniel had said and simply nodded. Daniel turned to Shamda and thanked him for the information and said good-bye. Getting up he left the tent.

"Sir, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Carter, if you think you can stop him, be my guest." 

Jack got up and went after Daniel. Teal'c gave Shamda a shallow bow and followed the other two. Sam found herself alone, feeling like she was the only one left on the team with any common sense whatsoever. However she got up and said her good-byes to Shamda as well. If the others were going to step blindly through an unknown Address, she wasn't about to be left behind. 

As she caught up with the others she had to admit that she was far more curious than afraid. Daniel wordlessly stepped up to the DHD and dialed in the first Address that Jack had given Rea'beka. 

The Gate didn't seem to want to engage the first cryptic Symbol. However after spinning back and forth a few time it found the Chevron and locked. The rest of the Address dialed as it should and the violent vortex snapped out at them. Daniel looked at the open wormhole and then at Jack.

"Trust me?" Daniel asked.

"Hey, I'm the one who remembered the Address." Jack replied as he unlatched the safety on his P90. "So if anything we're trusting me...which is a scary thought."

Daniel smiled and walked up the steps to the open wormhole. Teal'c came up beside him and they disappeared through the Gate together. Sam and Jack exchanged an all too familiar glance. Jack took a breath to say something, but thought better of it. Together they walked up to the shimmering pool of blue.

"Here goes nothing." Jack said and stepped though the event horizon.

"...or rather everything." Carter commented before following.

The trip through the black iciness of the worm hole was just as unpleasant as ever. However, it didn't last very long and Sam soon found herself on the far side of the Gate and the quite possibly the Galaxy. A fact that never ceased to amaze her.

She took a quick inventory to make sure that everyone was there and that there was no immediate threat. Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c were all there, and they were all just staring. Sam followed their line of sight and was instantly rendered speechless.

"Oh, wow..." Sam breathed "that's not something you see everyday."


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-seven

"That's...um...a lot of gold." Jack noted.

"And marble." Daniel added.

"A whole city of it." Sam said in awe.

"Indeed." Teal'c agreed.

The Gate they had stepped through was perched on the top of high gently sloping hill that bordered on being a mountain. The immense valley below held a jewel of a city in a lush ivy cradle. The vegetation had long ago invaded the streets between the white marble buildings giving them the appearance of pearls laying on green velvet.

At the heart of the city lay a temple of mother-of-pearl and gold with spires that towered above the rest of the city. All of the over grown streets lead to the immense building like spokes in a wheel. A wide path of white marble fell away from the Stargate and poured into the city like a cream down the mountain side.

"It's just beautiful." Sam said quietly. "It's unlike anything."

"Which is odd." Daniel said.

"Odd?" Jack repeated.

"Well, this should be an Ancient City...right? I mean Ancient knowledge lead to it, and they built the Stargate so they must have built this Address into it..."

"Daniel!" Jack snapped. "Come to your point." 

"Everything else we've seen of Ancient design has been made of coarse stone, built to be practical, not beautiful."

"Maybe we're seeing their artistic side." Jack shrugged.

"Or a place of religious significance." Teal'c suggested.

"Or someone else built it." Sam added.

"I guess we won't know until we check it out." Daniel replied.

"Then I suggest we stop yakking and start moving." Jack said. "It's a long way down."

It took a little over an hour to make their way down the hillside and into the valley. Once inside the city it quickly became clear that it was at least Ancient influenced. Their odd blocky writing was carved into the sides of the marble buildings. 

They were cautious at first, but it didn't take long to realize that the city had been abandoned for countless years. Since the golden temple was the most prominent feature in the city they made their way towards it. From a distance the building had been magnificent, up close it was nothing short of awe inspiring.

Even after all the years that it must have endured the exterior glittered radiantly in the slightly blue light of the planet's large sun. Every inch of the mother-of-pearl had been carved with intricate scrolling patterns that never seemed to repeat. The gold accents and roofing was actually painful to look at it gleamed so brightly. The entrance was a tall graceful archway at the top of a curved set of grand stairs. 

"Subtle." Jack muttered.

"It is unsettlingly grandiose." Sam agreed. 

"As if it were meant to be a place for Gods." Teal'c remarked quietly.

"Now there's a disturbing thought." Jack grimaced. 

"There should be writing inside that can give us a better idea of what this was used for." Daniel replied as he started up the stairs.

Through the archway was a set of double doors that held the first recognizable decorative pattern that they'd seen. A Stargate inlaid in gold marked the large white doors. Daniel was the first at the door and he admired the craftsmanship of the design. He had just noticed a small reddish brown stain on the door when it suddenly swung open away from him. Jack had stepped up next to him and the doors had reacted.

"Open sesame." Jack smiled. 

"It must sense your Ancient gene, Sir." 

"Nice. I wonder if I could get something like this installed in my house...minus the shiny stuff."

Jack fearlessly wandered through the open doors into the long hallway. The walls along the hallway where covered in Ancient writing that had been carved into the stone. Daniel tried to read some of it, but there was so much of it that he found it overwhelming. 

Not really interested in what the walls had to say Jack lead the way down the hall at a brisk pace. The hall opened up into a large open chamber. The Stargate pattern was inlaid into the floor with the planet's unique Symbol emblazoned in the middle of it. Staring at the floor Daniel didn't even the main feature of the room.

"Awe," Jack cooed sarcastically "it's cute."

"What?" Daniel asked as he looked up.

On the far end of the chamber was a dais raised a few feet off the ground. Upon it sat a miniature version of the Stargate. Only about ten feet in diameter the little Gate seemed grossly out of place in the audience hall. They made their way across the room and up onto the dais. In contrast to the smaller Gate, there was a larger, more complicated DHD than normal. 

"There's blood on the DHD...a lot of it." Sam noted.

"Teal'c," Jack said seriously "keep a watch on our six."

Teal'c raised staff weapon and stalked off to edge of the dais to have a better vantage point of all the entrances. Daniel inspected the dry bloody marks on the DHD.

"The bloodstains match the eight Symbol Address." Daniel pointed out. "Was Rea'beka injured?"

"Not by us." Jack replied. 

Jack adjusted his grip on his weapon and began to look around. Daniel reached out to dial the Address. He pressed the first Symbol, but nothing happened. After trying a few more times he touched a random Symbol, but they would not react. Daniel stared at the DHD in thought for a moment.

"Jack," Daniel called "touch this Symbol."

Jack stepped up the DHD and pressed the Symbol that Daniel had indicated. The pad below it began to glow a deep orange and the Gate began to spin. Daniel furrowed his brow and touched the next Symbol, once again it did not activate. He motioned for Jack to try and it responded instantly.

"Interesting..." Daniel mused.

"What is?" Jack asked.

"I think it takes that Ancient gene to activate this particular DHD." Daniel explained. "Sam, try this Symbol."

Sam placed her hand on the DHD, but it remained cold. Jack touched it next and the Gate began to spin to the corresponding Symbol.

"An added security feature?" Sam suggested. 

"Must be. I wonder why all the Gates don't require the Ancient gene."

"I don't know." Sam shrugged. "But it means that Rea'beka must either be an Ancient or have the gene as well." 

"I don't think so." Daniel countered. "She wouldn't have needed Jack or myself if she were in anyway Ancient."

"Then how did she get through here?" Jack asked.

"Maybe she didn't." Sam pointed out.

Having a theory Daniel took Jack's left wrist. Jack gave Daniel a confused look as he worked the sleeve of his uniform up, but he didn't protest. Daniel exposed the inset of Jack's elbow revealing a small yellowing bruise.

"Looks like Rea'beka took more than a memory from you." Daniel remarked.

"What?"

"Jack, this blood is yours." 

"Ick." 

"Fresh blood must somehow fool the device into thinking that an Ancient is using it." Sam reasoned.

"Ick." Jack repeated.

Daniel rolled his eyes and just pointed out the next Symbol that Jack needed to activate. Once all eight Chevrons were locked Jack spread his palm on the blood spatterd center dome. The vortex that surged out of the small gate reached out twice as far as normal. When the event horizon established it had more of a green tint to it than the usual blue.

"So I take it we're going to try our luck again?" Jack asked.

"We've come this far..." Daniel replied. "We might as well." 

"I don't quite follow that logic, but alright..."


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-eight

"Ah," Jack said with a smile "this is better."

"Better?" Carter asked skeptically.

"Well...I guess not 'better', just more like what I expected. You know, all creepy and dank."

"It is most certainly that." Teal'c growled and raised his staff weapon.

Daniel looked around the dilapidated room they were in with all the excitement of a cat in a canary sanctuary. The sounds of dripping water echoed off the high ceiling, adding a musty humidity to the still air. 

Some form of phosphorescent fungus was growing on the walls and cast a dull blue light on everything. There were consoles along the right hand wall that looked more like the Ancient technology design that they were used to seeing. What had once been viewing screens lined the wall as well. One was cracked and water dripped from it like clear blood seeping from a wound. 

There were several arched doorways that lead to other hallways and rooms. Jack walked over to the far wall to the only one that had a door on it. Unlike the doors on the other world this one didn't react to him. Looking around the edge of the door he found a clear panel that was stained in red.

"How much of my blood did this Vampire take?" Jack complained.

"Sir?" Sam asked as she walked over.

"There's more blood over here."

"Try putting your hand on the panel." Daniel suggested.

"Do I have to?"

Noticing the look he was getting from the rest of the team Jack reached out and spread his palm against the dirty glass rectangle. The door slid open. Beyond was more decay and destruction. There was a lot more clutter in this room. Broken devices, fungus covered tables, more consoles, and other objects whose purpose could only be guessed at lined the walls.

"You got to hand it to those Ancients," Jack mused "they built stuff to last. I mean these days you can't get five good years out of a car. This door is millions of years old and it still works."

"Looks like it's just about the only thing that does though." Sam said. "I'd guess this was some kind of lab."

Daniel had to agree. He stepped inside and walked up to the most dominate feature in the room. A large dirty glass tube, about four feet in diameter and eight feet tall was mounted to the floor. It looked like an art deco aquarium. 

A jagged hole had been smashed into the front of it. Although the liquid had long since drained there was still a transparent purple stain coating the inside and the edges of the broken hole. Daniel moved closer to inspect it further when he suddenly caught sight of a figure standing just beyond it. He took an alarmed step back as the older man came around to face him.

"Hello, Gabriel." The stranger growled.

"W...what?"

"You are most unwelcome here."

"My...uh...my name isn't Gabriel. It's Daniel."

Jack turned his attention away from the console that he'd been looking at. Daniel was starting at a broken glass structure, talking to himself. 

"For crying out loud," Jack grumbled "Danny's losing it again."

Jack hurried over to Daniel and turned him away from the glass container. Daniel looked at him in confusion. Jack raised his hand and snapped his fingers in front of Daniel's eyes a few times. Irritated Daniel pushed his hand away.

"Jac..."

"Daniel, where are you?"

"I don't know where this is anymore than you do," Daniel replied annoyed "ask him."

"Him?"

"You can't see..." Daniel turned and stopped. The man was gone. "There was a man here a second ago."

"Right." Jack looked around. "That's it, we're going home."

"We can't go yet." Daniel protested.

"You're talking to yourself."

"No." Daniel said firmly. "There was someone here."

"You're losing it and I'm not going to risk having you go schizo this far from home. We're going back."

"He was probably an Ascended, which would explain why you couldn't see him and how he disappeared."

"I don't care." Jack said stubbornly. "Rebecca has obviously come and gone, and we're going to do the same."

"Ja..."

"No arguments, Daniel." Jack interrupted. 

Jack reached out to take Daniel's wrist. Pulling away violently Daniel caught the back of his hand on the broken glass. He hissed in pain as the jagged edge scrapped his skin. 

"Sorry." Jack muttered.

"It's just a scratch." 

"Come on, let's go."

Realizing that he could argue with Jack until Judgment Day and still not get anywhere Daniel just nodded. As they stepped back into the larger console room the scratch across the back of Daniel's hand began to burn. He looked down at it and noticed some of the purple stain had come off the glass onto his hand. He tried to rub it off and found himself suddenly dizzy.

"Takas, these numbers can't be right." An unfamiliar voice said suddenly. "Where did you get them from?"

"Leena."

"Leena, come here, my child."

Daniel looked up sharply and stood in amazement at the new life that suddenly bustled around him. It looked just like the room he'd been in, only in perfect working order. The screens scrolled a mind numbing amount of information in Ancient text while various people in richly coloured garb stared at them and manipulated the consoles.

Despite standing in the middle of the room, no one noticed him. They just went about their lives as though nothing were out of place. Daniel closed his eyes, hoping it would go away. However when he opened them nothing had changed. One of the men walked towards him.

"Um...hello." Daniel greeted.

The man said nothing. He came closer and before Daniel had a chance to move out of the way the man passed right through him. Daniel gasped and whipped around sharply. Staring at the man's back in disbelief Daniel absent mindedly rubbed at his temple.

"Maybe you were right, Jack, maybe I am losing it."


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-nine

"This is just great." Daniel sighed in frustration. "Jack, if you can hear me, just give me a good hard slap. I know you want to, and it might wake me up."

Daniel waited, but nothing happened. He went to pinch himself and noticed the purple stain over the cut in the back of his hand. Quickly putting two and two together, Daniel decided this was simply a drug induced delusion.

"Leena, come here, my child." One of the men called in the background.

"Yes, my Lord."

"Sam?" Daniel spun around at the sound of the woman's voice. 

Behind him was a woman dressed completely in white that for a moment Daniel mistook for Sam. The similarities were striking, as if their were siblings. Although most of her features had slight alterations, the woman's eyes were exactly like Sam's. 

"That's just frightening." Daniel commented. "I mean if I was going to hallucinate that you're here, why wouldn't you look the same?"

The woman did not respond. She stepped over to the man who had hailed her. He ran his hand through her hair affectionately and in response she knelt down on the floor. With her hands folded on her lap she waited patiently. For the first time Daniel noticed the silver memory disk she wore.

The man reached into one of the pockets of the richly coloured robe-like outfit that he wore. Daniel instinctively took a step back when the man pulled out a silver hand device similar to the one Rea'beka had. 

He slipped the device onto his hand and held it a few inches from Leena's forehead. In the soft purple glow of the stone she weld her eyes shut and started panting for breath. 

"What are you doing to her?" Daniel demanded uselessly.

The man either did not notice his victim's discomfort or he didn't care. He furrowed his brow in thought. Leena struggled further for breath, but she seemed determined to hide her distress as best she could. Taking his hand away she instantly relaxed and opened her eyes once more.

"I still don't believe these numbers are correct." The man muttered as he turned back to the console screen. 

"Have I displeased you?" Leena asked meekly.

"No," the man said dismissively "you have done nothing wrong."

Seeing that she was no longer needed Leena attempted to get back to her feet. When she faltered a young man, also dressed in white, rushed to her side. He knelt down next to her and put his hands on her shoulders. From his view point Daniel could only see the man's back. 

"Are you alright?" He whispered in concern.

"Yes, of course." Leena forced a smile. "I'm just tired."

"They have worked you too hard today." He hissed.

"It is an honour to be here." Leena replied defensively.

With a sinking feeling Daniel walked around the pair to get a look at the man's face. Having no brothers Daniel wasn't used to seeing someone who looked so similar to himself. This man was younger by about ten years, his features a little sharper. However when Daniel looked directly into the young man's eyes it was a perfect reflection.

"Okay...I'm officially freaking out." Daniel said slowly. "What the hell is going on?"

The young man stood and guided Leena to her feet. She pushed herself up onto her barefooted tiptoes and kissed his cheek. Daniel noted that he also wore a silver disk at his temple.

"Thank you, Gabriel." Leena said softly.

"Gabriel?" Daniel repeated. 

"Gabriel!" A new male voice entered the scene. "Come here at once, my child."

Daniel turned around and saw that another robed mad had just stepped in from the room that had held the broken tank. The door slid closed behind him as he walked closer. He called Gabriel again. He stopped and pulled a hand device from his pocket.

Gabriel looked to Leena with concern, but she did not seem to share his apprehension. Looking defeated he turned and went to the man who had summoned him. Daniel followed. The man reached out to touch Gabriel the same way the other man had affectionately touched Leena. 

Gabriel however did not seem interested in the contact. He pulled back slightly and simply knelt on the floor with his head bowed. Daniel suddenly noticed a dark stain across the back of the young man's neck. Stepping up closer he saw that it was a dark blue tattoo of Ancient writing.

"'Gabriel 761'." Daniel read out loud. "Like a tag on a dog."

As the other had done to Leena this man held his hand above the young man on his knees. Gabriel's chest began to heave as he gasped against the glow of the stone. The older man's eyes lost some of their focus and started tracking back and forth as if he was reading something. He kept Gabriel under his spell much longer than the other had held Leena. When Gabriel started to whimper he stopped.

"I'm sorry, my son." He apologized. "I have learned much today."

"It is an honour to carry the knowledge for you, my Lord." Gabriel said half heartedly.

"Oh God, they're using you like hard drives." Daniel said in horror.

"Go and rest now."

"Thank you."

Gabriel failed twice to get to his feet, however the man did not make any move to help him. Just as Gabriel stood the sounds of the mini Gate activating at the end of the hallway attached to this room could be heard. His deep blue eyes widened in fear.

Gabriel wasn't the only one to react to the noise of the Gate. The richly dressed men stopped what they were doing and started to hustle about. They looked like they were double checking things to be sure that they were in order. 

Daniel looked around and noticed that there were a handful of other men and women dressed in white scattered about the large room. They gathered in one corner and knelt down, this time bowing all the way to the floor. 

"Why do I get the feeling that I don't want to know who's coming through the Gate?" Daniel muttered.

Daniel noticed that Gabriel didn't move to join the others in the corner. He had a cornered animal look in his eyes that Daniel could easily empathize with. In the commotion he managed to slip away. Daniel let him go, more interested in seeing who was paying the Ancient lab a visit. 

"What the..." Daniel exclaimed.

Moments after Gabriel had left Daniel's environment suddenly changed. He was standing in a medium sized room that had three glass walls, and a glass ceiling. Beyond the glass was the vastness of an alien sea, teaming with indescribable life. There were couches and large chairs scattered about, obviously for viewing the ocean. 

It took Daniel a moment to take his eyes off the world beyond the glass and notice that Gabriel was there as well. He was at the far wall with his hand on the glass, staring out into the sea wistfully.

"I take it I can only see and know what you do?" Daniel asked rhetorically. "Which kinda makes me think this is more than a hallucination. Alternate Universe doesn't sound very likely...possibly a glimpse into the very distant past?"

Not surprisingly Gabriel didn't react to Daniel's musings. He just sighed deeply and watched the colourful fish school by the glass. When the door started to slide open he gasped and scrambled behind one of the couches.

"You're not allowed in here are you?" Daniel asked with a wry smile. "And yet something tells me you spend a lot of time here."

Gabriel was obviously trying to make himself as small as possible behind the couch, holding his breath out of fear of being discovered. The man who had been tormenting him earlier stepped into the room followed by a richly dressed man who could easily be Jack's father. 

"Hey, Jack, join the party." Daniel said. "Where's Teal'c? Scratch that, I see him."

Just outside the door a large man with Teal'c's almond eyes stood on guard. Whoever 'Jack' was Daniel assumed him to be important. The door slid shut and the two men sat down in plush leather chairs that had a small table between them.

"It is an honor to have you here, High Councilor Tarin." The first man said with a forced a smile.

"Don't give me that, Ezric." Tarin growled in Jack's voice. "You know I'm going around to the various Projects to see which ones should be shut down." 

"This isn't one of them." Ezric said quickly.

"So far I've heard that from six of the six off-Galaxy labs that I've visited."

"I'm sure you have, you know how us scientists are with our funding."

"All too well." Tarin grumbled. "The Council tells me that you've been working on a recently discovered species."

"Yes, they are amazing creatures that are going to change the entire structure of our civilization."

"Really?" Tarin asked skeptically. 

"They are going to replace the Niacines."

"I'm listening."

Gabriel was listening as well. His eyes had suddenly widened in shock and he'd curled up a little tighter in his hiding place at Ezric's statement. Daniel wasn't entirely sure what a 'Niacine' was, but something told him that Gabriel was one of them.

"These animals that I'm working with have a very unique quality." Ezric said dramatically. "They have a genetic memory."

"You'd better not be talking about who I think you're talking about." Daniel groaned.

"What exactly does that mean?" Tarin asked.

"If you teach something to one of them the offspring of that one instinctively knows it. They are very fragile, snake-like creatures, they've probably evolved this way so that they can know danger from the moment they are born."

"What do you call these things?"

"Well, Maclin Gou'ald first discovered them, so we've been calling them 'Gou'alds'."

"I was afraid of that." Daniel sighed.

"They are an extremely primitive animal, a parasite of sorts."

"There's an understatement." Daniel muttered.

"In the wild they attack the back of another animal's neck when they come to drink from the streams, they take a piece of flesh and return to the water to consume it."

"Ick." Tarin cringed.

"You sound just like Jack." Daniel said with a slight smile.

"So...what do these snakes have to do with replacing Niacines?"

"If we could get enough Niacine DNA into the Gou'ald so that our hand devices worked on them we could place our knowledge in the Gou'ald instead. Not only will they be easier to care for, and more economical, but we'll also only have to download the data once because these creature's offspring will automatically hold it."

"This is too weird." Tarin said bluntly.

"No, it's very real."

"We've got another Project that's working on something similar only mechanical in nature. A repository of sorts."

"A mechanical device will never have the power and versatility of an organic based system. The computing power of the mind is limtless, unlike the inner workings of a machine." Ezric countered. "The Niacines have served us well, but they have their flaws. They are expensive to breed, raise, and care for. Not to mention the fact that an alarmingly large number of them die or have to be euthanized when the data is downloaded into their subconscious. The Gou'ald will have none of those faults."

"This is insane." Daniel growled darkly. "The early Ancients bred an entire race to unwillingly hold their knowledge? And then decided to teach it to Gou'alds?"

"The costs of Niacines have been, and are, well worth the benefits." Tarin protested defensively.

"Maybe monetarily, but what about ethics? As a civilization we need to rise above this pantomime of slavery. I don't know about you, but I grow weary of the burden of claming to be a 'God'. We need to end this."

"I agree, I just don't think that this is the way to do it."

"I'm sure the men who first started breeding the Niacines had the same hesitations." Ezric pointed out. "But we would have never come as far as we have without them."

"And yet, if you're successful here the Niacines will no longer have a place in our society. Are suggesting that we slaughter them all?"

"What?!" Daniel exclaimed.

"No, of course not." Ezric replied calmly. "We'll just start sterilizing them."

"That's still genocide!" Daniel snarled angrily.

"In a few generations we could bring their numbers down to the hundreds. The best of the best." Ezric continued. "Those can be kept in labs like this one, but on the whole Gou'ald in tanks would replace Niacines in houses. Just like the Niacines we could breed different lineages with different information strengths."

"I don't know." Tarin said hesitantly.

"Just give me a little more time." Ezric begged. "This Gou'ald that I'm working with right now has survived longer than any of the others. I've been slowly mixing him with my best Niacine."

"Who?"

"A Technology Line named Gabriel." 

Daniel was afraid that Gabriel would be discovered in his hiding spot as his breath hissed sharply across his teeth at the mention of his name. However, neither of the men seemed to notice. 

"I've also managed to infuse Naquadah into this Gou'ald's blood, which I think will help us retrieve his memories." Ezric continued. 

"So that's where they got it from." Daniel muttered.

"I'm hoping to be able to try transferring what my Niacine carries to the Gou'ald very soon." Ezric said excitedly.

""You'll probably kill him if you try to pull everything he knows at once." Tarin pointed out. "No one's ever tried anything like that."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take."

"Of course you are," Daniel spat "it's not your life at stake! Jack, Tarin, whoever you are...don't let this madman do this."

Tarin rubbed at his temples the same way Jack did when he had a decision he didn't want to make. 

"One more year." Tarin sighed.

"Thank you, you won't regret this."

"Yes you will." Daniel hissed.

"I'd better not." Tarin warned.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

The men had left hours ago, but Gabriel still hadn't moved from his hiding spot. Outside the glass night had settled on the ocean. Daniel watched the phosphorescent nocturnal creatures swim by with mild interest. He was more concerned with how he was going to get home than with alien marine life. 

He had hoped that he would have come to his senses himself long ago. The sound of the door sliding open distracted him. Looking back he saw Leena hesitantly step into the room. She scanned the room with Sam's light blue eyes.

"Gabriel?" She whispered. 

"Leena?"

Leena smiled and made her way over to Gabriel's voice. She stood over him with her hands on her hips. 

"You know you're not supposed to be in here alone." Leena scolded mockingly. "Come on, it's late, come to bed."

"No." Gabriel shook his head like a stubborn child.

"Are you having nightmares again?" Leena asked sympathetically. "If you'd just tell the Gods about them, they could help you."

Gabriel rubbed at the disk he wore. Concerned Leena reached down and put her hand on his shoulder. Gabriel slowly got to his feet and looked around nervously. Leena looked around too, but she didn't see anything out of place.

"Gabriel, what's wrong?"

"Leena, these people..." Gabriel hesitated. "I...I don't think they're Gods."

"This speech seems familiar." Daniel sighed. 

"What?" Leena asked shocked.

"They're not Gods." Gabriel said more confidently. "We...we have to get away from here."

"Away from here? This is our home."

"No, it's a prison."

"Gabr..."

"They're going to kill us, Leena. They're going to kill us all."

"How can you say such things, Gabriel?" Leena asked in near tears.

"Because it's true!" Gabriel cried passionately. "They're just using us. They claim to love us, yet they don't celebrate our births and they don't mourn our deaths. We're nothing more than computers to them!"

Leena lashed out and viscously slapped Gabriel. She looked surprised by her own actions and turned to run away. Gabriel snatched her wrist and pulled her back. She fought to free herself from his forceful grip.

"You're hurting me!"

"Any more than they do?!" Gabriel snarled. "You don't struggle against them when they torment you!"

"Please," Leena whimpered "let me go."

"Leena? Gabriel?" Ezric asked in shock. "What is happening? What are you doing in here?"

Gabriel and Leena both froze. Ezric stood at the open door. Taking in the scene he retrieved his hand device from his pocket. At the sight of the weapon Gabriel released his captive. Leena instantly ran to Ezric and fell to her knees before him.

"Great Father," Leena sobbed "Gabriel has gone mad!"

"Hush, my child." Ezric said soothingly. "Go back to your room."

Leena looked back to Gabriel and hesitated to leave.

"Leave us." Ezric repeated. 

Leena nodded and got back to her feet. Without looking back she left. Ezric took a deep breath and for a moment he just studied Gabriel. Obviously terrified Gabriel back up slowly until he ran into the cold glass wall.

"How long have you been in here?" Ezric asked calmly.

"Longer than you'd like." Daniel replied in disgust. 

"N...not long, my Lord." Gabriel lied unconvincingly. "I couldn't sleep. I...I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for." Daniel snarled.

"It's alright, you are forgiven." Ezric smiled warmly. "Come here, child."

Gabriel didn't move, his eyes were locked on Ezric as though he was physically incapable of looking away. Still standing a good distance away Ezric offered his hand for Gabriel come and take. Trembling Gabriel just pressed his back harder into the glass. Seeing the Niacine's fear Ezric put his hand down and sighed heavily.

"You know, when I choose you as a child to come here your Guardians advised against it." Ezric said softly. "They actually had plans to euthanize you. You've always asked more questions than any of the others, and you've always been harder to control. I think that's why I liked you, but I don't think I did either one of us any favours by saving you."

Ezric took a few steps closer. Gabriel looked around desperately for an escape, but there was nowhere to go. 

"Stay away from me!"

"I'm sorry it had to come to this, my child."

Ezric lifted his hand that wore the silver device and it pulsed blindingly. Daniel's vision swum for a moment. When it cleared the scenery had changed once again. He was back in the room that held the Gou'ald aquarium. The lights were turned down low, so that the tank gave off an eerie glow. Walking up to the cylinder of glass Daniel looked into the slightly purple water. 

Even though it wasn't 'real' it still chilled Daniel's skin to look at a Gou'ald larva. The creature listlessly swam in a circle at the bottom of the tank. Daniel hadn't thought it possible, but the Gou'ald actually looked miserable. Gabriel didn't look any better. He was sitting in the corner, hugging his knees to his chest. 

"Do I really have to watch them kill you?" Daniel complained. 

Ezric was nowhere to be seen, but Daniel had the feeling that he'd be back at any moment. Turning his attention back to the Gou'ald Daniel noticed that it had stopped its pointless circling. It was now pushing itself against the glass in Gabriel's direction. Unable to get through the barrier it squealed in frustration.

"God I hate that noise." Daniel winced. 

Gabriel looked up at the sound sharply. After looking around nervously he got to his feet and slowly approached the tank. The Gou'ald swam little figure eights in response. When Gabriel made it to the glass the Gou'ald swam up to his eye level and hovered there.

"You're not a mindless animal, are you?" Gabriel mused out loud. "No more than I am."

"Don't talk to it." Daniel chastised.

The Gou'ald responded to Gabriel's voice and did a little summersault. It opened up its fan like fins and squealed again. To Daniel's surprise Gabriel actually smiled.

"You're the one that I hear at night, in my dreams...you've been trying to talk to me."

"Great." Daniel sighed.

"They've been hurting you, just like they do to me." Gabriel said sadly. "At least they haven't been lying to you."

The Gou'ald suddenly whipped around and slapped its tail against the glass. Gabriel furrowed his brow in thought. Not having gotten his point across the first time the Gou'ald struck the glass again.

"You want out of there." Gabriel sighed. 

The Gou'ald swam in a tight circle in agreement.

"No...Gabriel, don't, please," Daniel begged uselessly "don't even think about it."

"Would you know where to go if I let you out?"

Once again the Gou'ald swam in a tight circle before stopping and squealing again.

"I...I can almost understand you."

"That can't be good." Daniel sighed. 

The Gou'ald slapped its tail again the tank once more. Gabriel put his palm on the glass and the Gou'ald swam up and rub against the clear wall of its cage.

"I'll help you," Gabriel whispered "...if you'll help me."


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter Thrity-one

"Gabriel, no!"

Daniel knew that yelling at Gabriel couldn't stop what was happening. However he couldn't just passively watch the birth of the Gou'ald race. It took Gabriel three tries to break the glass aquarium with the metal chair. 

When the metal did break through the slimly purple liquid gushed out onto the floor. Swept away by the tide the Gou'ald thrashed violently on the floor. Gabriel dropped the chair and picked up the snake-like creature up off the floor gently.

The Gou'ald wrapped around his wrist and squealed. Gabriel watched the creature passively as it slithered up his arm. It wasn't until the snake wrapped around his throat that Gabriel panicked. He reached up and tried to pull the Gou'ald away.

"Too late." Daniel sighed.

Gabriel threw himself back as the Gou'ald burrowed into the flesh at the back of his neck. Daniel looked away, he couldn't witness the first true Gou'ald destroy its first host. When he turned back Gabriel was panting for breath, looking around with his eyes widened in fear. Daniel watched as the fear slipped away, replaced by a bright smile.

"I can hear you." Gabriel said excitedly. "I can understand you now."

"I take it the Gou'ald hasn't figured out how to take over your body yet." Daniel noted. "He will."

"No, I can't do that." Gabriel replied to some command in his head.

Not having gotten the response he was looking for the Gou'ald lashed out at its new host. Gabriel gasped violently, he tried to back away from the pain, but it was in his own mind.

"I can't...I can't take it off...I will die if I remove it!"

Gabriel arched his back and cried out in pain. Holding his head in his hand he fell to his knees. Eventually giving in to the Gou'ald's demands he clawed at the silver disk. He ripped the disk free and stared at the bloody device in his hand.

"You're right, it didn't kill me. In the future I will be quicker to trust you."

"Bad idea." Daniel warned. 

Gabriel looked like he was listening intently to something. He turned and walked over to one of the desks. He picked up the hand device that way laying on it. He held it up and looked at it warily.

"But I don't know how to use it." Gabriel spoke to the Gou'ald in his mind out loud. "What do you mean I do?" 

"He can see the information you carry." Daniel explained uselessly. "This is where the Gou'ald developed their technology. Over time they must have modified it."

Meanwhile Gabriel picked up the hand device and hesitantly slipped it on. He looked uncomfortable wearing it. However his confidence grew as he held out his hand the way he'd seen his Masters do so many times before. Daniel could see the concentration in his eyes as he activated the hand device to push the table away. 

Gabriel smiled, but it quickly faded as he heard someone sliding open the door. He instinctively looked for a place to hide. However the Gou'ald must have reminded him to be brave. Gabriel straightened his back and waited defiantly for Ezric to step into the room.

It was clear that Ezric didn't even notice Gabriel at first. His attention was locked on the broken tank. Gabriel was trembling violently, but he held his ground. Eventually Ezric looked up and saw him. All of the blood drained from Ezric's face.

"Gabriel?" Ezric said in disbelief. 

"Are you so arrogant that you didn't think he'd fight for his life?" Daniel asked. "Or did you think he was already dead?"

Ezric walked fearlessly through the puddle on the floor and up to Gabriel. At first Gabriel stepped back, but he shook his head and stepped forward again. 

"What have you done?" Ezric demanded.

"I think it's time you carried the burden of your knowable yourself." Gabriel growled darkly.

"Ga..."

Ezric froze solid as Gabriel brought the hand device up and bathed him in its purple glow. Gasping like a fish pulled from the sea Ezric sank to his knees. Tears slipped down Gabriel's face and he was panting with the effort of controlling the device himself. Sweat rolled off Gabriel's skin as blood began to seep from Ezric's nose. 

"The Gou'ald's poisoning you already." Daniel sighed sadly.

Ezric's eyes rolled back to white and he fell to the floor. Gabriel stared down at the man as he struggled painfully for his last breath. Ezric lay dead for several minutes before Gabriel was able to tear his eyes away from him. 

Gabriel stepped over Ezric and out into the large console room. Daniel assumed he'd run right for the Gate. Gabriel had other plans and started towards one of the other corridors. Clearly the Gou'ald had differently plans.

"I'm not leaving Leena behind." Gabriel growled.

Daniel expected the Gou'ald to punish Gabriel for his defiant behaviour. However the Gou'ald did nothing to stop him. Gabriel ran through the halls that had been darkened for the night. 

When he stepped into Leena's room he found her still awake. She was pacing nervously, her face streaked with dried tears. When she saw Gabriel her face lit up for a moment, until she noticed the sweat drenching his hair and the wild look in his eyes.

"Wha..."

Gabriel silenced Leena by covering her mouth with his hand. Without a word of explanation he pinned her against the wall. Leena's muffled scream tore through the room as he reached up and ripped the silver disk from her temple. He held the device up so that she could see it.

"I told you they lied to us." Gabriel growled as he released her.

"Lord Ezric!"

"He's dead."

"W...what? He...he can't die."

"I will show you if I must." Gabriel replied. "He tried to killed me, but I fought back using their own weapon."

Gabriel held up his hand that held the glowing bracelet. Leena stared at it in shock. Woken by Leena's cry one of the other Ancients stepped into the room. Without even looking at him Gabriel threw the man across the hall where he slammed into the wall.

"H...how can you use that?" 

"Someone's helping me."

"He'll turn on you eventually." Daniel growled darkly. 

Gabriel took Leena's wrist and dragged her out of her room. The Ancient that he had thrown into the wall was just starting to recover. Gabriel reached down and grabbed the smaller man by the throat and brought him to his feet. When the man tried to call for help Gabriel silenced him by bringing his knee up hard into the man's stomach. 

Coughing and gasping for breath the Ancient gave little resistance to Gabriel shoving him down the hallway. The other Niacines that lived in these quarters started to look out into the hall. One of the newer Niacines stepped up to Gabriel while the others cowered in their doorways.

"Gabriel?" Barin asked. "Wha..."

"Come with me or die here!" Gabriel announced to everyone.

"What have you done?" Barin asked in disbelief. "The God..."

"Does this look like a God to you?" Gabriel spat as he kicked the Ancient. "Open your eyes, my friend, we are deceived...but no more."

When Barin didn't respond Gabriel lashed out, ripped the disk from Barin's temple, and handed it to him. Gabriel forced his way past Barin and continued to push his captive down the hallway. Barin stared down at the disk in his hand. After a moment of indecision Barin chased after Gabriel.

"You might as well follow him." Daniel sighed pointlessly to the others. "You'll all probably be 'euthanized' after this anyway."

None of the other followed, but at the moment Gabriel didn't care. He dragged the Ancient all the way to the Gate and shoved him down onto his knees in front of the DHD. He released his hold on Leena to give his full attention to the Ancient.

"Dial it!" Gabriel demanded.

When the man didn't comply Gabriel forced all of his concentration into the hand device. The Ancient at his mercy screamed horribly. Leena wept bitterly, but she stayed at Gabriel's side. Although looking uncomfortable Barin also seemed determined to follow.

Breaking under the pain the Ancient reached out and dialed the Gate and activated it. Gabriel released his hold on the Ancient and he collapsed to the floor. He took Leena by the wrist again. It wasn't until he pulled her towards the shimmering Gate that she started to struggle against him.

"Gabriel...where are we going?"

"To free our race."


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty-two

Daniel woke to a hazy darkness. He felt as though he was drowning in a murky lake, the surface seemed only inches away but he was having trouble reaching it. An oppressive heat surrounded him, further clouding his thoughts. It was a sudden cold touch that snapped him back into focus.

"Sir, I think he's coming to." Sam voice came through the haze. "Daniel? You still with us?"

Daniel managed to open his eyes, Sam was looking down on him with a look of concern etched into her delicate features. Having momentarily lost his voice Daniel just nodded. Sam smiled and pressed the wet bandana against his fevered forehead again. Daniel was still trying to get his bearings when Jack's face suddenly filled his field of vision.

"What did I tell you about going schizo on me?" Jack chastised lightheartedly.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?" Daniel asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Reincarnation, karma, fate...whatever you want to call it."

"Um...no." Jack replied. "Not really."

"You might want to reconsider."

"What? Like right now? Daniel, I'm really not in the mood for a religious experience at the moment."

Daniel rolled his eye and struggled to sit up. He felt Jack slip his hand under his shoulder blades to help him. Once upright Daniel took a few deep breaths to try and keep the nausea at bay. He noticed that the others were all watching him warily and he forced a smile. 

"When was the last time you ate something?" Jack asked. 

"It all started here..." Daniel said vacantly.

"What started here?"

"The Gou'ald." Daniel replied sullenly. "It's my fault, I helped him escape, taught them everything they know..."

"Umm...Earth to Dr. Jackson," Jack said in a worried tone "what the hell are you talking about?"

Daniel looked down at his injured hand. Taking the damp bandana away from Sam he carefully rubbed the purple stain off to keep it from mixing with his blood again. 

"This liquid is some kind of memory enhancer used by the Ancients to try and help them tap into the genetic memory power of the Gou'ald. And unless I'm entirely misled it threw me back into a memory of a previous life."

"Previous life?" Jack repeated skeptically. "Daniel, you know I don't go for that sort of thing."

"Why not? Life is just energy, and energy can be neither created nor destroyed. So what happens to it when we die...why couldn't it just move to a new body, a new birth? I don't see why that's any more difficult to believe than Ascending to higher plane of existence."

"You have a point there." Jack admitted.

"I was here, we all were." Daniel continued. "The Ancients were using these Niacine slaves to advance their technology."

"Niacine?" Jack asked. "Isn't that one of the B vitamins?"

"That's niacin." Sam provided. 

"The Niacines were a race bred by the Ancients to hold their knowledge, to help compute the results of their experiments." Daniel continued. "They were planning on replacing the Niacines with Gou'ald. That's when 'I' released the first one."

"Why would you do that?" 

"We worked as a team."

"A team?"

"We wanted the same thing." Daniel said more to himself than to anyone else. "We wanted our freedom from the Ancients. Of course once free the Gou'ald must have turned right around and started to enslave others. The Niacines never had a chance at freedom."

"Why haven't we heard of these Niacines in any of the Ancient writings?" Sam asked.

"I can only guess, because I didn't see anything after they escaped this lab, however, I'm betting we've never heard of them because the Ancients didn't want us to."

"What?" Jack asked.

"The winners write the History books, Jack." Daniel clarified. "I assume that they went ahead with the genocide after Gabriel started a revolt. The Ancients were already looking for a way to reduce their dependency on slaves. And I don't know about you but if I murdered an entire race I don't think I'd brag about it to future generations."

"Maybe that's why the look of their cities and technology changed so drastically." Sam reasoned. "Perhaps they had to restructure everything."

"It doesn't matter." Daniel growled. "All that matters is that they are the ones that tortured the evil into the Gou'ald, and now they sit up on their 'higher' plane doing nothing about it!"

"Easy, Daniel." Jack suggested.

Jack reached out and put his hand on Daniel's shoulder. Daniel shrugged him off angrily. He wanted to stand, but he was currently struggling just to stay upright. The encroaching dizziness only served to upset him further.

"Daniel?"

"I released the very creatures I've spent the past eight years fighting, and now that we've almost defeated them I'm responsible for letting something worse free."

"Daniel, you haven't done anything wrong." Jack said seriously.

"I let Rea'beka find this place." Daniel hissed.

"What did she find here?"

"I don't know!" Daniel cried in frustration. "I...I saw into her mind when she was trying to tear mine apart...she was looking for something that even she feared...something dangerous, uncontrollable. We...we have to find her, we have to stop her...she doesn't know what she's doing..."

"Daniel," Jack said firmly "stop this. What's done is done, she is long gone and we have no way of finding her. As for you, the only place you're going is home."

"Jack, I'm fine. I can handle this."

"Really?" Jack asked skeptically.

"Really."

"Okay then...prove it."

"Prove it?" Daniel growled angrily. "How?"

"How about you try standing for starters." Jack replied seriously. "If you can walk all the way to the Gate by yourself I'll let you dial it anywhere you want to go."

Daniel shot Jack a murderous glare. He struggled to his feet, finding his balance far more precarious than he thought he would. Sam and Teal'c clearly wanted to help, but they were held back by Jack's silent orders. Daniel had yet to take a step when his strength failed him and brought him back down to his knees.

Jack reached down and helped him back to his feet. Seeing that his friend was about to hit the floor again Jack slipped under his arm and wrapped his own arm around Daniel's dangerously slim waist to support him. Daniel tried weakly to pull away, however Jack held firm. Close to passing out again Daniel sighed in defeat and accepted the help. Jack smiled sadly.

"It's settled then...home it is."

"Jack," Daniel panted "she...she's going to kill us all if we don't stop her..."

"You're going to kill yourself if we don't stop you." 


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty-three

"Can I get out of bed yet?" 

"Not unless you want to be shot in the leg." Jack replied seriously.

"You wouldn't."

"I might."

Daniel growled in frustration. He'd adjusted the bed so that he could sit up, but he wanted to get up. He looked to Teal'c for help, but the Jaffa only offered him a slight smile. Daniel itched at the IV needle in the back of his hand, Jack reached over and stopped him from pulling it out.

"Jack this is ridiculous, we're wasting time."

"Daniel, you give me an Address and I'll send Carter, Teal'c and SG-someone-or-another after her at all speeds."

"Like I've been telling you for the past three days, I don't know where she is."

"Then where are you in such a hurry to go?"

"I want to go back to the Ancient lab...translate what's on the walls there, it might lead somewhere."

"You have got to work on your lying, Danny-boy." Jack said matter-of-factly. "If you just wanted to do a translation you'd have asked Carter to go take some pictures. No, I know you better than that. You think if you can play with that purple goo again that you'll have some flash of insight."

"Ja..."

"No arguments, one more week of bed rest...Dr. Brightman's orders." Jack interrupted. "She's ticked at me enough as it is that I let you go the first time. Now come, it's your move."

Daniel rolled his eyes and reached out to the chess board that lay on his bedside table. He was just about to move Jack into Check when the base's Gate alarm went off. Daniel looked around nervously, but Jack just seemed annoyed.

"I should go deal with that." Jack sighed. "Seeing as that is my job theses days."

"Don't let me stop you." Daniel grumbled.

"Teal'c."

"Yes, O'Neill?"

"Make sure he stays here." Jack ordered. "Think you can handle that?"

"I believe that I can."

"Good." Jack smiled. "And make sure he doesn't cheat while I'm away."

"From what I have seen of your game, he does not have to."

"Jack, please..."

Daniel gave in, Jack wasn't listening. Making his way out of the infirmary Jack broke into a brisk walk. He couldn't recall anyone scheduled to be returning today. Getting to the control room he found Carter was already there.

"Is anyone due?" Jack asked.

"No, Sir." The technician replied. "Wait...I'm getting a code...or rather a few dozen codes."

"What?"

"Um...well, according to the computer someone is sending what appears to be every code that Dr. Jackson has ever been assigned."

"Sir...you don't think..." Sam started.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do." Jack growled.

"What do we do?"

Jack walked over to the Airman standing guard by the door. He motioned at the man to hand over his sidearm. Without hesitation the Airman handed him the weapon. Jack checked the clip, flicked the safety and cocked a round into the chamber.

"Open the iris." Jack growled and went to leave.

"Sir?"

"Open it!" He called over his shoulder.

The technician hastily activated the iris and it slid open. Sam hurried after Jack as he rushed down into the Gateroom. The men in the room looked to their General for direction. They kept their weapon's ready, but cleared the end of the ramp so that he could stand there. Sam retrieved a sidearm as well and joined him. 

Together they waited before the blue shimmering horizon of the Gate. Jack made a noise of disgust as Rea'beka stepped through. He raised his weapon level with her heart and seriously considered a new policy of shooting first and forgetting about asking any questions. If it wasn't for the nervous look on her face he might have pulled the trigger.

"Forget something?" Jack snarled.

"General, please..."

Rea'beka stopped as a middle aged man with a ponytail of long blonde hair stepped through the Gate as well. Sam instinctively trained her weapon on him. He wore a natural white robe type outfit, similar to the native garb of Abydos. The stranger looked around the room confidently. When he caught sight of Carter he stopped and his expression broke into a warm, genuine looking smile. 

"You're just as beautiful as I remember." He purred at Sam.

"Friend of yours, Carter?" Jack asked.

"Um...no, Sir."

"I must speak with Daniel Jackson." The man announced.

"May I ask who's calling?" Jack mocked.

"I am Gabriel."


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-four

"No!" Jack barked. "Forget it!"

"Jack..." Daniel started.

"I'm not leaving you alone with these two!" Jack turned on Gabriel and Rea'beka who were standing in the infirmary ten feet from Daniel's bedside. "By all rights I should just kill you both."

"We have come to you peacefully and unarmed." Gabriel replied calmly. "Please, at least hear what I have to say."

"Fine, say what you want and then I will consider kicking your butt back through the Gate...maybe even in one piece."

"I will speak only to Daniel." Gabriel repeated for about the tenth time.

"Jack, if they came here to kill me, they would have done so already."

"I can't believe you even want to hear them out." Jack said stubbornly.

"Then you don't know me very well, Jack." Daniel replied.

"What? That your curiosity is stronger than your common sense?"

"Or maybe you do." Daniel forced a smile.

Jack made a noise of frustration. He glared at Gabriel and Rea'beka. She cowered a bit, however, he seemed unaffected. With a sigh of defeat Jack handed over the sidearm he had taken from the Airman to Daniel.

"If they take one step closer..."

"I'll be okay, Jack." Daniel assured.

"I'll be right outside the do..."

"I'll be fine."

Jack flashed the two intruders one last murderous look. Gabriel bowed deeply, but Jack remained unimpressed. Daniel watched him step out of the door and then he turned his attention on his unexpected visitors. Gabriel went to step closer and Daniel instantly raised the weapon. Putting his hands up peacefully Gabriel took a step back.

"I have not come here to harm you...I thought you knew that."

"Forgive my suspicions." Daniel said icily. "I don't particularly like being out numbered."

"I only asked your friend to leave because I did not want an Ancient present...this is a Niacinian matter."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Daniel, please, you know by now that you have Niacinian blood." Gabriel replied. "There is no other way that you could carry the knowledge of the Ancients without it driving you insane."

"Who says it hasn't?"

Gabriel said nothing for a moment. Daniel narrowed his eyes and adjusted his aim.

"Rea'beka, I don't know what this creature has told you, but it's all been lies." Daniel announced as he kept his eyes locked on Gabriel. "Despite everything I know you're a good person...but if you continue to stand by his side I will kill you both."

"Daniel, no, please, listen to Gab..."

"He's not Gabriel...I was." Daniel growled. "He's the filthy snake that betrayed him...me...however you want to think about it."

"I betrayed no one." Gabriel said softly. "I took his name when he died to honour him."

"You're a Gou'ald, what do you know of honour?"

"Daniel, pleas..." Rea'beka started.

"Why, why, why, why did you want to free him?" Daniel demanded. "That's what you did, isn't it? He was eventually captured and imprisoned back in the lab. Don't you think that was done for a reason?!"

"He was the savior of my people once. We ne..."

"He's a Gou'ald!" Daniel cried. "You told me yourself you despise them!"

"I do despise the Gou'ald."

"As do I." Gabriel admitted quietly.

"You're the father of them all." Daniel accused.

"Yes...my wayward children."

"Wayward?!" Daniel spat.

Daniel was starting to feel the strain of trying to keep the heavy handgun trained on the Gou'ald. His whole frame tensed as he tried to tell his hand to pull the trigger.

"Daniel, Gabriel, Friend, you are not going to kill me." Gabriel said confidently. "I know you've only seen pieces of the past, I know you don't remember. But in your heart you know, we spent thousands of years together...working to a common goal."

"Never. I would never help spread your kind. I don't care who I was, I'm not that person now."

"I was just doing what I thought was right." Gabriel replied softly. "I was only trying to help."

"You did a great job." Daniel growled.

"Please, lower your weapon. Give me a chance to explain myself. If you think the deeds of the Gou'ald weigh heavy on your heart, imagine what it must be doing to mine."

Daniel grit his teeth in frustration. He wanted to kill Gabriel, but something wouldn't let him murder in cold blood. Closing his eyes briefly against the sting of tears he lowered the weapon, but kept his grip on it.

"Thank you." Rea'beka whispered.

"I will listen...it doesn't mean I'll believe."

"I ask only that you hear me." Gabriel nodded. "I knew that the true Gabriel and I would never free the Niacines from the Ancients on our own. I led him to my home planet. I was hoping to breed with the others, so that they would have my memories, my goals.  
However my children were mindless animal, I then realized that at one point I had been one as well. Something about being mixed with Gabriel's DNA had changed me...maybe had given me a soul. I don't really know. My offspring were diffrent, they could not take Niacine hosts as I could. They had knowledge, but they didn't know how to handle it."

"So you left them there to breed...to evolve." Daniel pieced together. "And they eventually learned to take control of the Unas."

"Yes, I let them live because it never occurred to me that they might one day escape." Gabriel said sadly. "In the thousands of years Gabriel and I spent freeing the Niacines, building their doomed civilization, my children were corrupting the Gou'ald of my home world."

"Corrupting them?"

"They knew of Gabriel's technology, and of his pain, but I had not been with him long enough to teach them his passion for freedom and life. Once they mixed with the Unas they began to learn of savagery."

"The Unas are a peaceful race." Daniel snapped.

"They still rule over one another by force and power." Gabriel replied. "They got off their world and started to wreck havoc."

"You should have stopped them." Daniel spat. "If they had truly become so twisted in your mind you should have slaughtered them yourself."

"I tried. I failed. They captured Gabriel and I and took us to the one prison they knew we feared the most and knew we could not escape from."

"The abandoned Ancient lab." Daniel sighed.

"Yes." Gabriel nodded. "They left us there to die. There was no food, all of the water was poisoned with salt. There was nothing I could do to keep Gabriel alive. Then I realized that I shouldn't even be trying. Even after thousands of years the lab terrified him, it started to drive him mad just being there. He used what was left of his sanity to construct a stasis jar, in the hopes that one day I would be freed."

Daniel narrowed his eyes, thinking about all that Gabriel had said. Eventually he risked taking his eyes off him to look at Rea'beka.

"How is it that after all of these years you suddenly decided to go looking for him?" Daniel asked suspiciously.

"I have been piecing together my people's broken past all my life." Rea'beka replied. "I was on a dig at one of the first Niacine citi..."

"Whoa...wait...you were on a 'dig'?" Daniel interrupted. "You...you're an archeologist?"

"That's not what we call them in my culture, but yes, basically." Rea'beka admitted. "I found a tablet that told of the Ancient lab and who lay there...but not of its location."

"And that's when you came to me."

"We have been watching the actions of the Tau'ri for many centuries." Rea'beka admitted. "We know more about you than perhaps you know about yourselves."

"And you never thought to help us?" Daniel asked angrily.

"Our numbers are extremely small...and if the Gou'ald even suspected that we still exist they would have stopped at nothing to slaughter what is left of us."

"Okay...fine...I can understand that." Daniel said honestly. "But now that the Gou'ald are all but extinct, why did you steal me? You speak of Niacinain freedom...what of mine? If your goal was so noble why did you drive me over the edge of madness without ever asking for my help?"

"I couldn't take the risk." Rea'beka replied without remorse. "If you had known that it was the first Gou'ald that I sought you'd have closed your mind to me. No matter how much technology I had, you would have never let me see what I needed."

"No, I wouldn't have." Daniel agreed. "I guess the only question I have left is: why have you come back? What more could you possibly want from me?"

Rea'beka looked to Gabriel nervously. He smiled at her the way a father would to reassure a frightened child. Gabriel turned his penetrating green eyes on Daniel.

"I've come to ask you to be host to me once more."

Daniel instantly raised the weapon Jack had given him level with Gabriel's heart.

"Da..."

"Stay away from me!" Daniel snarled darkly. "Jack! Jack, get in here!"

Jack was through the door before Daniel had finished calling for him. Weapon in hand he moved into a position where he could cover both Gabriel and Rea'beka without catching Daniel in the cross fire. Rea'beka whimpered in fear, but Gabriel remained calm as ever.

"Daniel?" Jack asked.

"I will never let you take me as host." Daniel hissed, he turned the gun on his own temple. "I will kill myself if I have to."

"Um...Daniel...could we talk about your tactics?" Jack asked.

"Please, I am not here to force myself upon you." Gabriel said calmly. "I came here to ask for your help. You are the only living soul with all of the knowlage of the Ancients, I ne..."

"Give me one reason I should trust you!"

"Because if you don't, everything is going to die!" Gabriel said, showing true emotion for the first time.

"What are you talking about?"

"The Plague is spreading again." Gabriel announced gravely. "Millions are dead already...billions more will fall."

Daniel stared at Gabriel in horror, he stared back with eyes filled with sorrow. Daniel looked to Rea'beka, tears were streaking down her face. Gabriel lifted his hand slowly and held it out, a symbolic offer for Daniel to take.

"Together is the only hope we have of stopping it."

NOTE from Phoenix: The next book 'Hotwired' will be posted soon. Thank you all for reading thus far! I apreciate it more than you can ever know.


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